Victor Wembanyama's disappointing debut is nothing to worry about

Come Monday, sports media members will argue about Victor Wembanyama's underwhelming Summer League debut. Don't listen. Wembanyama's difficult start means absolutely nothing.

That's not completely fair. If anything, his nine points on 2-of-13 shooting Friday proved he's an actual human being and not an android.

Other than that, there isn't much to glean from his performance other than the transition to the NBA is difficult. But we already knew that.

After the game, Wembanyama was candid about his struggles, saying, "I didn't really know what I was doing on the court." Even without fully grasping the game in his first league action, Wembanyama left his imprint in ways besides scoring. He filled the box score with eight rebounds, three assists and five blocks. 

As a rookie on a bad Spurs team, Wembanyama is going to have nights during the regular season like the one he had on Friday. It's part of the learning process.

He admitted that his conditioning will have to improve, and there's little reason to believe it won't.

ESPN's Andrew Lopez reported he had only three practices with his teammates prior to his debut on Friday night. He also played for the Metropolitans 92 until June 15, hardly giving him enough time off before his first Summer League action.

He has an entire training camp and preseason ahead of him to get in NBA shape, but it won't be until he goes through the rigors of an 82-game schedule that he fully acclimates.

Wembanyama's Summer League opener didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know. That he struggled in a glorified exhibition game not even a month after he played for a league title is hardly something worth getting worked up over.

Plus, it keeps him on the same trajectory as Hall of Fame Spurs big Tim Duncan. During the 1997 Summer League, Duncan was outperformed by Jermaine O'Neal and Greg Ostertag. O'Neal and Ostertag combined for 44 points in separate games against Duncan while he averaged a meager 13 points in those two games, via Sporting News.

Don't remember? No one else does, either.