"He's so cooked" - Spurs fans concerned as Victor Wembanyama seemingly looks gassed in 2 quarters

Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs capped off their annual Rodeo Road Trip against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. The Spurs’ lethargic start allowed the defending champs to take a 37-19 lead at the end of the second quarter.

The visiting team played better in the second half to prevent the Celtics from running away with the game. Wemby played like he was gassed, particularly near the start of the third quarter.

Fans reacted to Victor Wembanyama looking ready for time off:

“Yeah it’s time for the all star break. He’s so cooked rn,” one tweeted.

Another fan said:

“He played 36 minutes this night, more than 32 minutes for months and he has to defend under the rim, at the perimeter + lead the offense.

“Do the Spurs want to kill him.”

Another fan added:

“Has he just got a shit tank, or what? It's not like he's on a B2B.”

@Millz_Huncho continued:

“He’s still under weather you can tell, watever he’s dealing with is affecting his breathing”

@UrATXRealtor claimed:

“This happens because Mitch Johnson does not know how to rotate his players. Castle barely played today through the 1st 3 quarters. Mitch as a coach is getting worse by the game”

Victor Wembanyama sat out the San Antonio Spurs’ 105-103 loss to the Miami Heat on Feb. 1 due to illness. He was cleared to play hours before they started their road swing against the Memphis Grizzlies two nights later. He completed the away game, but the load on both ends of the court has seemingly caught up with him.

Against the Celtics on Wednesday, Wemby tallied 17 points on 7-for-16 efficiency, including 1-for-6 from deep. He added 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. In back-to-back sequences in the third quarter, he couldn't keep up with Jayson Tatum and Derrick White. Still, the Spurs likely had no chance if he hadn't played against the defending champs.

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Victor Wembanyama’s hectic offseason seems to be taking a toll

The arrival of De’Aaron Fox has helped take off the load on offense from the 7-foot-3 center, but Victor Wembanyama had little offseason rest. After the Spurs were eliminated from playoff contention, the Rookie of the Year winner worked on his game for the Paris Olympics.

The phenom carried his team to the gold-medal game, where they lost to the heavily favored Americans. Wembanyama arguably had his best game against Team USA but couldn't take the French beyond the silver medal.

Neither the Spurs nor Victor Wembanyama wanted to ease into the season. He had finished the 2023-24 campaign averaging 29.7 minutes per game. Wembanyama averaged 31.0 MPG in October to open the new season, 32.7 MPG in November and over 33.0 MPG since then.

The long offseason and workload seem to have taken a toll on him as he looks ready for the All-Star break.