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Editor\u2019s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic\u00a0here<\/a>. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n LOS ANGELES \u2014 Not long before the Los Angeles Lakers and their new majority owner Mark Walter celebrated the Dodgers\u2019 World Series championship at center court, Victor Wembanyama stood in the corner across from the San Antonio Spurs bench, the team\u2019s championship banners and retired numbers in the rafters above.<\/p>\n On the baseline opposite, you wouldn\u2019t need to strain to imagine Walter dreaming big \u2014 those banners, technically speaking, were closer to the 7-foot-4 phenom than anyone else on the floor.<\/p>\n And if that view wasn\u2019t good enough, the one in the third quarter where Wembanyama\u2019s head was a foot above the rim as he easily dunked the ball even as his momentum carried him away from the basket definitely was.<\/p>\n The Lakers chasing greatness and the players who can provide it is nothing new. Three of the Hall of Fame bigs with retired numbers began their career somewhere else. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar and Shaquille O\u2019Neal were all someone else\u2019s before they shone in L.A.<\/p>\n While their fans probably have their Photoshops ready (and of course, there was a photo of Magic Johnson and Wembanyama\u2019s father, Felix,\u00a0on the internet this offseason<\/a>), none of this is based in any reality.<\/p>\n The truth is much scarier.<\/p>\n Walter can dream about a future with Wembanyama. But first, he and his new team are going to have to deal with what\u2019s rapidly becoming a running, jumping, shooting, stealing and blocking nightmare.<\/p>\n Because for everything Wembanyama could mean to a team\u2019s future, he\u2019s capable of ruining an opponent\u2019s present.<\/p>\n After the Lakers beat Wembanyama and the Spurs 118-116 Wednesday night, it didn\u2019t matter that they\u2019d made him look uncomfortable by trying to push him off of his preferred spots. It didn\u2019t matter that they\u2019d forced him into five turnovers and six fouls and held him to just 19 points.<\/p>\n No, inside the locker room, Lakers players knew that the guy they\u2019d just competed against would only get better and soon might be unstoppable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s his third year in the NBA \u2014 and he\u2019s playing at an MVP level, which is insane,\u201d Lakers star Luka Don\u010di\u0107 said after the win. \u201cSo I have much respect for him, much love and I really enjoy his game. Playing against him, it\u2019s very tough. Guarding him, going against him on offense is very tough.\u201d<\/p>\n Don\u010di\u0107 is the biggest reason why Walter doesn\u2019t have to wait for the Lakers to take a crack at winning. Through nine games, Don\u010di\u0107 has been the best version of himself. It\u2019d be easy to argue no one has been better and that he\u2019s the early favorite for his first MVP award.<\/p>\n Don\u010di\u0107, who turns 27 in February, was gifted to the Lakers last season and gave the franchise a more viable post-LeBron James plan than they could\u2019ve ever imagined. In a single transaction, the team went from trying to figure out if\/when\/how to build around a player in his 40s to forming the right team around someone 14 years younger.<\/p>\n It gave them time.<\/p>\n But inside the Lakers\u2019 locker room, multiple players made it sound like it was merely a matter of when, and not if, Wembanyama gets to be too good for anyone to have a real chance at stopping him.<\/p>\n \u201dHe has some God-given abilities and talent that put him in a pretty unique space,\u201d Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said pregame. \u201cAnd if he continues to hone those and nurture those and develop those, you know, I don\u2019t think anybody feels comfortable putting a ceiling on him.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s why teams in the Western Conference can\u2019t think too big-picture. They\u2019ve got a head start, but people seem to know Wembanyama and those long \u00a0strides will eventually chase them down. No one, save for the Oklahoma City Thunder, can feel like they\u2019re in a steady climb to contention.<\/p>\n Everyone else is in a sprint.<\/p>\n Seven-footer Jaxson Hayes said Wembanyama is stronger and smarter now than he\u2019s ever been before in the league. And with the Spurs star still somehow growing, Hayes stood next to Wembanyama on Wednesday and felt something he hadn\u2019t felt since he was a scrawny high school guard.<\/p>\n He felt short.<\/p>\n \u201cCrazy,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n Lakers coaches and players said that Wembanyama still needs to grow as a playmaker and that he\u2019s still in the process of harnessing his immense physical advantages. But they also said he\u2019s already a one-of-one problem.<\/p>\n \u201cThe top of this game plan is Wemby awareness on both sides of the floor,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick said before the game. \u201c And defensively, we showed the team a couple clips, when you touch the paint, you may think you have a layup, but he\u2019s gonna just appear magically out of nowhere and block your shot. The space that he\u2019s able to cover, it\u2019s almost like he can be in two places at once.\u201d<\/p>\n There are a couple of places where Wembanyama notably isn\u2019t at the moment. One, the Spurs, despite their hot start, need to be healthier, deeper and more experienced to push to the top levels of the West. And two, Wembanyama can\u2019t really be a part of anyone\u2019s plans outside of San Antonio because he\u2019s chasing a type of greatness that transcends locale. For him, it sure seems like it\u2019s not about being in a big market or small market \u2014\u00a0it\u2019s about being the absolute best basketball player he can be. And with their young talent, their clean books and a healthy stock of picks to use in trades, the Spurs are in a terrific position to put everything he\u2019ll need around him.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why on a night when the Lakers won, it was still a little scary, getting another look at an ever-evolving threat that has no real limits. Win five MVPs? Sure. Shoot 80 percent from the field? Why not? Hoist his own set of banners in San Antonio? Seems like it\u2019ll eventually happen.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the thing about greatness \u2014 it\u2019s possibility. Walter has it with the Dodgers; he has it with this version of Don\u010di\u0107, too. It\u2019s increasingly looking like this version of the Lakers will have a chance.<\/p>\n But as Walter sat there and saw the NBA\u2019s biggest threat, literally and figuratively, he had to wonder how long that could possibly be true.<\/p>\n Because anyone who is trying to win right now should know that there\u2019s no point chasing Wembanyama, because Wembanyama is already chasing you.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n Dan Woike<\/a>\u00a0covers the Los Angeles Lakers for The Athletic. He\u2019s written about professional basketball in Los Angeles since 2011, first for the Orange County Register and most recently for the Los Angeles Times. His work has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Pro Basketball Writers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club and the California News Publishers Association. He\u2019s originally from Chicago.\u00a0Follow Dan on Twitter\u00a0@DanWoikeSports<\/a><\/p>\n