Victor Wembanyama's calf injury paused his MVP push, and now a canceled Netflix doc kills a massive spotlight. But the Spurs' phenom is still the league's main event.
Victor Wembanyama's calf injury paused his MVP push, and now a canceled Netflix doc kills a massive spotlight. But the Spurs' phenom is still the league's main event.
Victor Wembanyama entered the 2025-26 season with the weight of a franchise on his shoulders and the NBA world at his feet.
Fresh off a year derailed by a blood-clot diagnosis, the San Antonio Spurs' unicorn looked every bit like an MVP frontrunner before his latest setback.
Through 12 games, Wembanyama was putting up video game numbers with 26.2 points, 12.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.6 blocks per game, anchoring both ends of the floor and dragging the Spurs back toward relevance in the loaded Western Conference.
Every night felt like a highlight reel ... step-back threes, chasedown blocks, put-backs from nowhere.
Then came the calf injury.
San Antonio shut him down to protect its franchise centerpiece, halting one of the league's most compelling early-season storylines and forcing the Spurs to rediscover their identity without the 7-4 cheat code that makes everything easier.
But Wemby's impact extends well beyond the box score, and that's where the latest gut punch landed.
This week, Sports Business Journal reported that Netflix is moving toward canceling its NBA docuseries "Starting 5" after two seasons featuring stars like LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The streaming giant had reportedly circled Wembanyama as the new centerpiece for a revamped third season, aiming to build the show around his rise, routine and off-court life.
Now? Shelved.
For Spurs fans and NBA junkies, it's a brutal what-if. A global, behind-the-scenes spotlight on Wembanyama, especially as he battled back from last season's health scare and this year's calf injury, felt like a no-brainer.
He's already one of the league's most marketable young stars and widely viewed as a future face of the NBA.
A full-season doc built around his evolution, his personality and his growing superstardom would've been must-watch content.
Instead, the cameras go dark.
The good news for San Antonio? None of this changes what really matters. The Spurs still have a 21-year-old generational talent who was bulldozing his way into the MVP conversation before his body hit pause.
The Netflix project might be dead, but the Wembanyama show isn't going anywhere.
Once his calf heals, the league's most fascinating rebuild resumes ... with or without a docuseries. The Spurs didn't sign up for a streaming story arc.
They signed up for a dynasty.