Oh, it's *really* Victor Wembanyama's world now

The Frenchman makes a helluva statement in Game 1 of his third NBA season. He just might be ready for everything. Good morning. Let's basketball.

ESPN billed its second doubleheader game on Wednesday as a battle between two recent highly touted No. 1 picks: Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg. ESPN learned that for now you had better not put those names in the same sentence. Wembanyama, who was an All-Star last season and would have made All-NBA and won Defensive Player of the Year if not for the blood clot that stopped his year short, made sure he was all anyone could watch in this game.

Big Vic put up 40 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocks and no turnovers in 30 minutes. I counted three jaw-dropping plays in the highlights.

That he did a bunch of that against Anthony Davis is mindblowing. That he helped the Spurs destroy the Mavericks, who consider themselves a playoff team, is impressive. What's most striking once you come to grips with just the sheer audacity of his athleticism, creativity and size is that the Spurs look good. It's one game, and De'Aaron Fox isn't back yet. But Stephon Castle was the second best player on the court. Dylan Harper looked fearless off the bench in his debut (15 points on 7/14 shooting).

Wembanyama's dominance is simultaneously ridiculous and sustainable: he wasn't out there ripping threes (he took only two) or making wild decisions. He was just consistently stacking plus possessions for the team. The Spurs were +31 in his 30 minutes.