Victor Wembanyama had a miserable night in the Thunder's 116-104 win over his Spurs, missing his first dozen shots and finishing with just one made field goal to go with 12 points and 13 rebounds. What matters is what he did when the buzzer sounded: he bolted off the court without shaking a single hand.
If this were the first time, you could chalk it up to a bad moment. It isn't. Wembanyama skipped the handshake line after the Spurs lost the NBA Finals to the Knicks this past June, a decision that got him called out by name by analysts and by Draymond Green. That was a franchise-altering loss, the kind that can scramble anyone's head in the moment. This was Game 1 of an 82-game season, a loss on an October Tuesday that won't mean anything by Christmas. And he still couldn't stand there for ten seconds and act like a professional.
A bad shooting night happens to everyone. A tense, physical game happens too: the second quarter saw De'Aaron Fox throw Chet Holmgren to the ground, Jaylin Williams get in Fox's face, and Wembanyama himself trading shoves in the scrum that followed, which is exactly how four separate technical fouls got handed out, including one to Wembanyama. Emotions were already hot, and nobody's pretending otherwise. His teammates stayed on the floor anyway. Jared McCain, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, everyone who actually won the game, did what players are supposed to do once it's over. Wembanyama alone decided the ritual didn't apply to him.
Rating
RatingA 22-year-old who just got embarrassed on his own floor is allowed a bad few minutes. This is the second time in four months he's refused the smallest gesture professional sports asks of anyone who loses: shake the hand of the guy who beat you. One instance is a bad moment. Two is a habit, and habits tell you who someone actually is when nobody's grading on a curve for talent.
Wembanyama is the most gifted big man the league has seen in years. None of that buys him an exemption from acting like he's been in a locker room before. He's going to lose a lot more games across an 82-game season than he's used to. If a random October loss already breaks his composure, February is going to be long, and so is every month after that until he learns that walking off is what quitters do.
