Victor Wembanyama Reacts to Joining All-Time Greats in NBA History

The San Antonio Spurs took down the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 115-108 final score in a Game 3 matchup on Friday night, led by a historic performance from Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama finished the game with 39 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks. He did so efficiently, shooting 13/18 from the field, 3/5 from behind the 3-point arc and 10/12 from the free-throw line.

With this stat line, Wembanyama joins Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the only players in NBA playoff history to record at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in a single game.

Wembanyama was asked about his historic feat during a postgame press conference. In his response, the 7-foot-4 Frenchman alluded to his training sessions with Olajuwon over the 2025 offseason.

“It’s good to be along with the big fellas. I had to resort to some things that Hakeem taught me in this fourth quarter. Many things, but especially that spin fadeaway over Rudy [Gobert],” Wembanyama said.

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It didn’t take Wembanyama long to join O’Neal, Olajuwon and Abdul-Jabbar in this historic company. In fact, he accomplished the feat in just his seventh NBA playoff game, and just his second postseason game on the road.

With Friday night’s Game 3 victory, the Spurs took a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4. Wembanyama accomplished some other NBA history during the Spurs’ Game 1 loss in San Antonio, recording an all-time single-game playoff record of 12 blocks.

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Game 4 will tipoff at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

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This story was originally published May 9, 2026 at 2:10 PM.