Isaac Levy-Rubinett

Nov 14, 2024 | theringer.com | Isaac Levy-Rubinett

Getty/Ringer Illustration I’ll admit that there’s something incongruous about Victor Wembanyama firing away from deep. Everyone in the NBA shoots 3s now, but it still touches a primitive basketball nerve when a man who can practically dunk without jumping settles for a 28-footer. Of course there were grumbles when Wemby stumbled out of the gate this season, launching 3s at a nearly unprecedented volume while making them at just a 23 percent clip in his first nine games.

May 22, 2024 | theringer.com | Isaac Levy-Rubinett |Justin Verrier |Tyler Parker |Rob Mahoney

The NBA is changing. There hasn’t been one big-bang moment, like Michael Jordan’s summer of 1992—wherein a 29-year-old Mike banked his first back-to-back title and then grasped the reins of the Dream Team—but the tectonic plates are shifting, ever so noticeably.

May 6, 2024 | theringer.com | Isaac Levy-Rubinett

The musical Rent asks, “How do you measure a year?” And in the case of Victor Wembanyama’s mind-bending debut NBA season, there’s really no good way. The newly minted unanimous Rookie of the Year averaged 21 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, and a league-leading 3.6 blocks per game—numbers that make him not just one of the greatest rookies the league has ever seen, but also one of the NBA’s best players right now.

Apr 12, 2024 | theringer.com | Isaac Levy-Rubinett

Getty Images/Ringer illustration Victor Wembanyama doesn’t stand up so much as he unfurls. When his press conference ends, he presses his palms against the table and begins to rise—and then keeps going and going. Up and up. It’s a fluid, elongated motion that seems to take three times longer for him than for an average person. I’ve seen Wembanyama dunk grown men to smithereens. I’ve seen him pluck shot attempts out of the air as if he were grabbing a spice jar off a tall shelf.

Oct 25, 2023 | theringer.com | Isaac Levy-Rubinett

Getty Images/AP Images/Ringer illustration Gregg Popovich has often credited his success—a Hall of Fame berth, five championships, and the most wins ever by an NBA coach—to winning the 1997 draft lottery and selecting Tim Duncan. In other words, to dumb luck. To this day, Spurs people toast Duncan at team dinners—“thank you, Timmy”—joking, though not really, that the big fella is responsible for their success, their livelihoods, and the bottle of fine wine on their table.