‘Sky’s the limit!’ – Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford say pairing Victor Wembanyama with Gregg Popovich ‘a cheat code’

Former NBA superstars Reggie Miller and Jamal Crawford believe that the “sky’s the limit” for No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama, and that pairing him with legendary coach Gregg Popovich and Hall of Famer Tim Duncan is “a cheat code”.

Wembanyama was considered one of the best talents ever to enter the NBA draft when he came out of France, and he went as the first pick to the San Antonio Spurs, who jumped up from third to top spot in the 2023 lottery.

It created a marriage of dreams for NBA fans as Hall of Fame coach Popovich got a chance to coach yet another generational talent.

“Well, I was fortunate to call the exhibition game on Friday versus Miami,” Miller said. “Now again, Miami left nine core players at home, but this game was in San Antonio and it was a chance for the Spurs fans to get their first glimpse of this phenom – that’s exactly what he is.

“I was curious because I wanted to see how he was going to approach the physicality of this game. Now, the game is not played the same way it was in the 90s and the early 2000s.

“But if we’re judging just from the first two exhibition games, the sky is going to be the limit. He has all the skills at 7’4″, he can handle the basketball.”

Miller went on to point out that, whilst he and others had some concerns about how Wembanyama will cope with the physical aspect of the game, having Popovich and Duncan – the latter who will act as a consultant to help the rookie’s development – is going to end up cancelling that out.

“So, you see the skill level is there. The thing I’m more curious is once the season starts and the physicality of those mainline players – because right now he is mainly a perimeter player – but what he has at his disposal, which a lot of people are talking about, and I guarantee you this is going on right now, he has Tim Duncan on speed dial.

“And I guarantee you, they are working one-on-one in the gym on low posts because he can get pushed off the block really easy and that’s why I say he’s more of a primer player. But he’s long, he’s athletic, he can run, he has great vision and he’s going to learn the game from arguably the greatest NBA coach we’ve seen in Gregg Popovich, who is used to dealing with big men in David Robinson and Tim Duncan, so I think the sky’s the limit.

“Rookie of the Year should be a goal of his. I mean there’s going to be a strong field with Chet [Holmgren] and Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson, but if I’m Victor, I’m saying to myself Rookie of the Year and then if they can win 30-36 games. That’s huge. That would be huge for him and the Spurs.”

Crawford echoed Miller’s statements saying that having Popovich and Duncan is a “cheat code” for Wembanyama.

He also pointed out that off the court Wembanyama is saying and doing all the right things in terms of being a superstar and team leader in the NBA.

“Coming in with that foundation, with Pop, with Tim Duncan. Okay, that’s a cheat code.

“So, he’s going to be great, and you see his interviews and what he says, and what’s important to him, I want to be great at basketball, I know, it’s a process. I’m going to get better day by day, like its added this energy. He accepts this role that he’s in, like, from a worldly view, how people look at him like his professionalism.

“As far as his game itself, his skills will determine what he’s successful at first. So what I mean by that is if he’s running pick and roll, he’s popping out, he’s successful being a spot up shooter, they’re going to do more of that action.

“Pop’s going to, you know, have him grow, but he’s going to play to his strengths and his skillset because he can do some of everything being a ball handler, catching it on the run, different actions that he shows he’s ready for.”

At this point, Crawford asked Miller if he felt small standing next to Wembanyama when he called the game against Miami.

Miller laughed, responding: “My son was like ‘dad, you’ve got to stand back-to-back because I’ve got to see it like how much taller he is’, because my son’s 10 and he thinks I’m the jolly green giant I’m like ‘son you have no idea’.

“But he’s like, ‘dad you’ve got to stand back-to-back to him.’ I felt like I was like in the third grade Jamal, seriously! It’s a different type of length, he’s got long arms, long arms but he can move, he moves like a small forward.”

Then Miller told Crawford what he had heard from Popovich in terms of coaching Wembanyama and how Popovich’s style of coaching and teaching will be so pivotal.

“Something that was really cool that you would appreciate from Gregg Popovich about Wemby, because we asked him ‘how are you going to coach him’?

“We know you’re used to David Robinson and Tim Duncan, and he said we’re going take the same approach we did with them. We’re not going to coach him whatsoever because we want to get to know him and his skillset. So, whatever he’s good at then we’ll base our offence [around that].

“Now, there’s certain things in their offence and deepest schemes that will stay the same, but they’re not going to influence and say ‘you need to work on this or no, do this’.

“They haven’t coached him, not 1%. They did the same thing with Timmy and they found out what his strengths and weaknesses were and then they’re going to cater around that to develop their offence and their defence and how they prepare on a nightly basis, which I thought was really cool, because a lot of coaches in today’s game it’s always my way or the highway ‘do this, do that’ and Gregg Popovich was like ‘no, we know his IQ he says is off the charts. He understands the game’.

“So we’re going to find out what he does best and we’re going to cater that to Spurs basketball.”

Crawford responded, saying: “Think about how many coaches would have said, ‘no, you have to get stronger, you have to do this’, and like they’re breaking them down to build them up type thing.

“Pop’s like ‘no, come as you are, you’re special. We know it. Let’s figure it out and go together.’ That’s unbelievable for somebody of that magnitude.”

The Wembanyama era gets underway when the Spurs will face another European superstar in Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in their opening game of the season.

The game is on Wednesday, October 25th with the match-up starting at 02:30 UK time in the morning of Thursday, October 26th.