Deni Avdija responds to Victor Wembanyama’s ‘free throw’ jab at him

The Portland Trail Blazers have a tall task ahead of them with the San Antonio Spurs waiting for them in what will be Victor Wembanyama’s highly anticipated NBA playoff debut. But the series will also mark the playoff debut of another rising star in Deni Avdija.

The Spurs and Blazers are set to tip off their series on Sunday in what many predict will be a quick series after Portland earned the seventh seed in the Western Conference by defeating the Phoenix Suns in the play-in tournament.

After that win, fans on social media remembered the comments that Victor Wembanyama made about Deni Avdija back in Los Angeles during the 2026 All-Star Weekend.

“I mean, he takes a lot of free throws,” Wembanyama said when asked about how Avdija is viewed in the league and about the jump he’s taken this season. “I haven’t played against him this year, but the advice is to not to foul, to defend without fouling. I don’t know how many minutes with him I shared on the floor, but the [All-Star Game] was a pretty fun experience. I think what we displayed basketball wise was solid. And it shows, the results were close games with intensity.”

Wembanyama’s response was alarming to NBA fans in the sense that he was not able to provide any sort of praise for the Blazers star, but instead took to mentioning his 9.2 free throw attempts per game. Avdija finished the season third in free throw attempts per game behind Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic (10.2) and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo (9.9).

Ahead of Sunday’s Game 1 between the Blazers and Spurs, Deni Avdija spoke with members of the media at the team’s morning shootaround inside San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center. It was there that Avdija was asked about Wembanyama’s comments at All-Star weekend by Israeli reporter Yoav Modai of Sport5.

*The following quotes were both said in Hebrew and translated to English:

“At NBA All-Star, Victor Wembanyama was your teammate, but he said you’re viewed as a player that goes to the line often,” Modai said to Avdija. “Did that response affect you?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t really pay attention, to be honest with you,” Avdija responded, his facial reaction essentially admitting that he did indeed hear the comments. “I think I’m much more than a player that lives at the free throw line. But you know, people will always say things like that. The only thing I can do is simply not pay attention. It’ll be alright.”

In his second season with the Blazers and sixth in the NBA, Deni Avdija had a career year averaging 24.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from three. Avdija was also named an NBA All-Star for the first time in his career.

Avdija helped the Blazers defeat the Suns during the 7-8 play-in game with a monster performance, finishing with 41 points, seven rebounds, and 12 assists. Play-in stats don’t officially count towards anything, but if that were officially counted as a playoff game, Deni Avdija would have been the 12th player in NBA history to log at least 41 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds in a game, and the first player to do it since 2023.

In 64 appearances this season, Victor Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steal, and a league-leading 3.1 blocks per game in 29.2 minutes of action. He and the Spurs had a phenomenal 2025-26 regular season that saw them finish with the second best record in the NBA at 62-20 despite Wembanyama missing 18 games, trailing only the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 64-18 season.

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