Victor Wembanyama, it seemed, issued a decree. One veiled in gratitude and sealed with sarcasm.
“I’m just glad to be part of something that’s growing to be so beautiful,” he said.
“Pure and ethical basketball.”
This rang as from a herald, with the panache of a proposed law. Especially because it came after a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder — the NBA’s new face of manipulation, given their position as dominant defending champs — Wembanyama seemed to revel in a sweet victory of a hero over a villain. As if the future face of basketball threw down a challenge to the next generation of superstars.
Cut the shenanigans.
See, the San Antonio Spurs’ big man didn’t invent the term. Ethical basketball as a talking point was born in an ideological battle waged online for years now. Conceived by the flopping era and the NBA’s freedom of movement edict. What was once niche — Reggie Miller extending his leg on 3-pointers, and Michael Jordan getting phantom whistles — seemed to grow into an epidemic of players falling like touch fouls were sniper fire. So the concept of ethical basketball praised players such as Steph Curry and Kevin Durant for not intentionally feasting at the free-throw line. And, simultaneously, it chided players such as James Harden and Joel Embiid for unabashedly manipulating the rules as a steady diet.
Ethical basketball is an ode to a straight-up version of the game most people grew up playing. When it wasn’t about milking loopholes. Or banking on coercion. Or hoping for help from ambiguous rules. It’s shooting to make instead of aiming to draw a foul. It’s playing defense instead of hoping for a pass-and-crash charge. It’s finding honor in not needing any of that.
For some, finding an edge is part of the game and its own version of genius. Even Curry acknowledged the skill of drawing fouls. He sees it with Jimmy Butler now. He played with Corey Maggette as a rookie. Curry’s career is bookended by professional foul-drawers.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, and the aggressive Thunder have been a lightning rod in the “ethical basketball” debate. (David Berding / Getty Images)
The rip-through. The subtle leg kick. The ability to exaggerate contact on the fly. The expertise at manipulating leverage, getting defenders off balance and punishing them for being out of position. It’s as meticulous and crafty as dribbling through traffic. The way Harden negotiated the NBA’s gather-step rules could be considered artistic or unbecoming.
It sounded as if Wemby planted his flag on the side of the latter. As if he chose the era when footwork didn’t require expertise at Twister because traveling was an easy call. As if he grew up in France playing the no-blood-no-foul rules of blacktop, and calling a charge provoked a flagrant reaction.
Curry, fresh off a weight-lifting session after a home win against the Phoenix Suns, took a moment to process the idea of Wembanyama potentially leading the new era into a basketball purity vow. Then he gave a succinct reaction: “I love it.”
Wembanyama, when asked to explain further ahead of last week’s NBA Cup final, clarified his meaning.
“In modern basketball,” he said, “we see a lot of brands of basketball that don’t offer much variety in the dangers they pose to the opponents. Lots of isolation ball and, sometimes, kind of forced basketball. And we try to propose a brand of basketball that can be described as more old-school sometimes — the Spurs way as well. So it’s tactically more correct basketball, in my opinion.”
Admittedly, his explanation didn’t scream revolutionary. His follow-up sounded much more like a mid-major coach throwing shade at AAU hoops than a beret-ed activist of ethical basketball.
But if he didn’t mean to pick a side, he should have. It’s the one he’s already on.
Wembanyama, through Sunday, has averaged 5.0 free throws per game for his career. That ranks 35th among all players from the start of the 2023-24 season until now — just six spots ahead of Curry.
Only eight players have averaged seven or more free throws in that span: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Embiid, Luka Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Paolo Banchero, Zion Williamson, Butler and Trae Young.
But the problem isn’t players getting free throws. Throughout the history of the NBA, getting to the free-throw line has been a central part of being a great scorer.
Of the top 30 in NBA scorers in NBA history, by total points, only two average at least four shots for every free throw: Curry (4.13) and Alex English (4.09). Only six others average at least three shots per free throw: Ray Allen (3.9), John Havlicek (3.6), Vince Carter (3.5), Kevin Garnett (3.4), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3.0) and Elvin Hayes (3.0).
Most of the league’s best scorers fall somewhere near 2.5 shots per free throw. The best scorers will get to the free-throw line. That’s basketball.
The issue is bigger than drawing fouls. It’s the aesthetic. It’s the popularization of the underhandedness. Some of the largest men in the world, and some of the best athletes, snapping their heads back after the slightest graze to the chin, as if they routinely skip neck day. It’s the same player being allowed to push off but getting the whistle when he’s pushed. It’s the flailing and flopping — and the constant complaining when neither yields returns — while some real contact gets deemed as marginal. It’s this great league having games morph into legal proceedings, with officials approaching the scorer’s table like a lawyer approaches the bench.
Even Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick voiced his concerns about the inconsistency of officiating. And free throws to the Lakers are like potatoes to Idaho.
Judging by the number of coaches losing it lately, this reeks of something bigger. Perhaps even something coming to a head. Something without a doubt connected to watchability. It certainly doesn’t help to have the gambling connection photobombing the scene either.
Minnesota Timberwolves coach Chris Finch’s crash out against the Thunder last week brought to light his comments about OKC from earlier this year.
Chris Finch on the Thunder:
“It’s so frustrating to play this team because they foul a ton. They really do. They foul all the time. And then you can’t really touch Shai. And it’s a very frustrating thing” pic.twitter.com/EWTarUcqAa
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) February 25, 2025
It’s discussed behind the scenes, more as a reality to deal with than a complaint. Oklahoma City’s suffocating defense is athletic, long, physical and aggressive. It seems to operate with the understanding that the refs can’t call every foul. They don’t intentionally foul as much as they simply don’t mind fouling. That’s the nature of swarms.
Finch, as more and more non-Oklahoma City fans do, finds it unpleasantly ironic for a squad with that defensive bent to also feature the NBA leader in free-throw attempts.
To be clear, the criticism aimed at OKC is just a natural part of its dominance. The Thunder don’t win because of the margins, even if they play them well. They win because of excellence. They play with championship confidence, which produced another level that makes them seem invincible. Thus, they’ve become prime targets. It happens to all great teams.
But it also points to a larger truth about ethical basketball. It’s required to win big.
People often refer to basketball gods and playing the right way. It purports this idea that the karma of basketball catches up with the people who hustle their way through. The truth: Winning at the championship level is so hard; gimmicks aren’t enough. Living by those schemes only works to a certain point.
When the game’s on the line, when the stakes reach higher levels, victory demands purity. The best in the world won’t be thwarted by tricks. Shots must be made. Fouls must be earned. Defense must be stingy. Pressure must be handled. Teams must be worthy.
Wembanyama is just shy of 22 years old, but remember what he went through last summer in the Paris Olympics. What he witnessed and experienced. Ethical basketball is what beat him in the gold-medal game, what added fuel to his fire to be the best in the world.
That’s what Wemby stands on, even if he won’t say it blatantly. Yet.