In the history of the Nba, I don’t think there’s ever been a rookie who’s had the level of defensive impact that Victor wanyama is currently having.

When looking at the raw defensive stats for this year, Victor is currently averaging over three blocks in one steel per a game.

Over the last 15 Seasons, there’s only been one player who’s collected over three blocks in one steel per game, and that was Jiren Jackson Jr.

The year he won defensive player of the year.

Now the first and obvious thing that makes Wom Yama special is his physical tools.

Victor stands at 74 with a ridiculous 8T wingspan, and that by itself is easily enough to make him one of the best paint protectors across the league.

J greened another now, Whenby gets a big chunk of his blocks rotating over from the weak side.

Ball handlers and slashers are obviously well aware of Victor’s presence on the court, so they typically tried to attack away from Victor’s orbit, but W’s size and length allows him to effortlessly cover ground and erase these shots.

Right here you’ll see Andrew Nard turn the corner off the screen, and when he sees Victor on the Block waiting for him, Nard is going to change direction and try to get to the other side of the rim, but notice how easily Wy slides over and snags the shot.

Now, on this Play, Tyrese Halburn is coming downhill towards his left and, in an attempt to throw off the timing of Wy rotating over.

Notice how Halburn is is going to jump early off his ballside foot from this spot.

Tyrese would be able to sneak this layup through about 99% of shot blockers, but Victor from here can simply use that cheat Cod length and then, on top of all that size and length, Victor also has really good Mobility, being able to Dart out and get in passing Lanes, shift out to the three to eliminate shots and also rotate back down towards the rim.

That move of ability also allows Victor to be a really good defender in scrambles, being able to quickly shift to open spots while remaining on balance, where he can then use all that size to disrupt the offense.

Notice how the Spurs on this play have a brief defensive breakdown, with two players being pulled towards the ball and, as The Rock gets moved across the court.

Notice how Victor is able to slide down to take away the drive, then extend up to swap the shot.

I also like this play too, where Victor is going to close out on Miles Turner taking away this catch and shoot three.

So in response, Turner is going to attack wy’s top foot.

But from this awkward stance, notice how Victor has the body control to swivel his hips and rotate back down to meet Turner in the paint, which draws him into a turnover.

Now, if teams try to pull Victor out and force him to guard and pick and roll, wy’s ridiculous size allows him to comfortably sit back and drop while still being able to use his length to extend up and bother any kind of pullup.

You’ll see Luca donic on this play working off the screen and again notice how wemi is dropped back below the three.

And when Luca tries to separate to his left with the step back, wemi easily has the reach to extend up and get a piece of the shot.

And then again, like we saw, Victor also has really good Mobility which allows him to scramble and take away any kind of Advantage the ball handler creates.

Notice how Halburn here does a good good job of keeping his dribble alive and pulling Wy across the nail.

And when Tyrese tries to swing this pass back up to the screener, watch how Victor is able to scramble across and turn this into a difficult, well-contested shot.

And if guards try to turn the corner and take wemi off the bounce.

There isn’t really a good way to attack him.

Watch Nard here initially make a nice move by attacking hard to his right, then stopping on a dime for this Left Right pull-up and notice how he’s able to get wimy to open up his stance.

And this would normally be a clean routine pullup for Neard.

But that alien Likee reach forces him to abort.

And this leads me to my next point.

I’m sure you’ve heard the quote that great offense always beats great defense, but with Wenyama that couldn’t be further from the truth.

When Gathering the clips for this video, there were many plays where I thought the offense did literally everything right, but Victor simply had the talent and ability to cancel all that out.

Take this play, for example.

Notice how Benedict Maan is going to elevate up and put his inside shoulder into wy’s chest to then extend this layup out with his left.

This right here is the textbook way to create a finishing angle against length, but it’s not nearly enough to get this finish.

Pass Victor now on this play.

You’ll see Kyrie Irving coming down the lane in transition and notice how he’s going to jump up towards the right side of the basket then extend the ball out with his left from this spot.

Kyrie is trying to use the rim as a shield to prevent wemi from sliding across and blocking the shot, but Victor still has the reach to extend across and get a piece of this layup now coming into this season, one of the biggest question marks for Wemi was his strength.

Many people thought that he would get physically overwhelmed by some of the League’s Premier centers and in spots of the Season there were for sure some matchups.

They gave Victor some problems.

The Nba in points opponent field goal but for just 20 and still growing into his body.

I do think Wmi Overall has pretty good strength and stability down low, being able to hold his ground enough to where he can still use his length to disrupt shots.

Watch Nicola yic on this play attack right into Wem’s body to then extend the ball out into this hook shot, but notice how Victor is able to hold his ground to then reach across and get this block and steal.

So physically.

I think Wanyama checks all the boxes having ridiculous size, being able to cover ground and move on the floor, while also having enough strength down low to hold the Zone against a variety of matchups, and this now leads us to an underrated part of Wem’s Defense, which is going to be his IQ for having under one year of Nba experience, Victor already has a really good defensive feel by both always putting himself in the right position off the ball and effectively reading the offense on this play.

Notice how Victor’s man space out towards the corner.

But as this play unfolds, watch how Victor reads this player being completely honed in on the middle of the floor, allowing wemi to Simply come from behind and swipe the ball free.

You’ll see Luca on this play pushing the pace on the break and notice how he tries to move Victor out of the paint by selling this pass to the corner.

But Victor is going to stay home and take away this lob, the Al denied by Wama.

When defending on the ball.

I also think Victor has really good hands.

His length commonly catches the offense off guard and wy’s able to rack up a ton of steals and deflections by simply getting his hands on lazy passes.

But on top of that reach, Victor also has really fast hands, being able to find these small Pockets to make a play on the ball.

Notice how shenon on this play is able to lift Victor up with the Sha fake and as he tries to make this wraparound pass, notice how quickly Victor comes down and swipes the ball.

So overall all I think Victor wanyama is easily in the conversation for one of the best overall Defenders across the Nba.

Statistically, he pretty much checks all the boxes and when looking at the film, his impact on the court is undeniable.

I think the only thing holding him back right now is the current state of the San Antonio Spurs, but that can quickly change in the years to come.

If you enjoy this video, please like And subscribe, and let me know in the comments what you think of wy’s game.

He kid here.