A three-time NBA MVP was on the verge of his signature.

“The Sombor Shuffle” is a mix of quirkiness and skill that only the one man could cook up, a one-legged heave with the release of a soccer inbounds pass and pinpoint accuracy. This one from Nikola Jokić would have been for the win.

With seconds remaining in regulation this past Friday and with Jokić’s Denver Nuggets down one, the burly center backed down San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama. He drifted to the left block, then turned over his left shoulder, tucking the basketball behind his head as if he were about to catapult it. No ordinary giant could reach this.

Alas, Wembanyama, the far-and-away front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year, can make titans look like Spud Webb. The Spurs’ second-year stud did not block the unblockable shot. Instead, he pulled off something more impressive.

As Jokić faded away, one of the game’s most-composed performers turned frazzled. After Wembanyama’s hand dangled past his eyes and above his forehead, Jokić thought twice about releasing a jumper that a 7-foot-3 beanpole would surely stuff back into his face. Instead, he looked to the other side of the court, his feet already in the air and a double-team nearing him, and tossed an errant pass into the hands of Spurs rookie Stephon Castle.

The NBA’s leading shot blocker is affecting shots even when he doesn’t touch the basketball.

If Wembanyama is in the game, Spurs opponents shy away from the rim. Superstars canvass the court before putting up jumpers or driving, just to make sure the 21-year-old tower is nowhere near. San Antonio allows fewer layups, dunks and floaters with Wembanyama around.

He’s listed at 7-3, but no one who’s stood next to Wembanyama actually believes it. He’s a sky-scraping broomstick with eternal arms, as if “Fantasia” were a horror movie.

The league has decided it does not want a piece of him. And on this occasion, his victim was a generational big man.

“He’s a special kind of player,” Spurs wing Julian Champagnie said. “He’s just looking around, seeing what he can swat. And he’s gonna get ’em.”

While the rest of the NBA is playing basketball, Wembanyama is dominating whack-a-mole.

He’s blocking four shots a game, which leads the league and would be the highest single-season average since Dikembe Mutombo in 1995-96. Yet, even more common than the blocks are plays like the one on Jokić.

“You feel his presence roaming,” Castle said.

Milwaukee Bucks big man Bobby Portis felt that presence during the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s 121-105 blowout of the Spurs. Portis, who has soft touch around the basket, received a pass down low with Wembanyama in his grill, rushed a floater that hit off the front of the rim, grabbed the offensive rebound and then hurried an off-target layup. This time, Wembanyama snagged the rebound.

Eight-time All-Star Damian Lillard noticed the Wembanyama effect from afar and chose not to experience it at all.

Look at Lillard create separation from Castle on this third-quarter possession only to see Wembanyama lurking and pass the ball back out:

This is the new norm, even during a defeat the Spurs lost control of early.

San Antonio allows 4 percent fewer layups and dunks when Wembanyama is on the court, according to Cleaning the Glass. It allows 3 percent fewer looks from the short midrange. The Spurs defense, meanwhile, is nearly 11 points per 100 possessions better with its anchor on the court, the second-largest differential of any high-minute player in the NBA.

“We don’t work as well —” a hyper-honest Champagnie started before rephrasing. “Well, we don’t work at all without him back there.”

In Year 2, Wembanyama is evolving, as are the Spurs, who sit at 18-19, on pace for their most wins in six seasons. The main reason why is in the middle.

Physicality doesn’t deter Wembanyama the same way it could during his rookie season, when broad-shouldered big men would throw an elbow or four down low, hoping to shove him out of the paint. Sometimes, like with the immovable Domantas Sabonis, it worked. But it’s not as successful a strategy anymore.

Wembanyama has added strength and skill. He can swat more types of shots than he could last season. On Monday, the Chicago Bulls’ Coby White pushed for a transition basket only for Wembanyama to catch up to him in the paint. White attempted a reverse layup, but there was one problem: Wembanyama leaped with one hand on the left side of the hoop and the other on the right. White could not use the rim to wall off a shot blocker. Naturally, without anywhere for White to go, Wembanyama knocked away the finger roll.

No one else in the league is long enough to pull off these types of plays. And now, the Spurs are getting creative with him. They have certain fundamentals for his teammates and separate ones for Wembanyama.

For example, San Antonio players are supposed to close out on shooters with square shoulders, not force dribblers to the middle or baseline — except for Wembanyama, who will rush to them with an open stance, lending his opponent a driving lane.

But that’s just bait.

Look at what happens on this fast break when Wembanyama’s never-ending arm deters a 3 as his feet convince the bold Trae Young there is daylight — only for the gap to close in a blink.

“You can have a great move, create a lot of space,” Spurs forward Harrison Barnes said. “And he can come out of nowhere and throw the ball off the glass.”

This is how the Spurs create offense. They don’t force many turnovers, but they will run off Wembanyama blocks. San Antonio scores a dominant 1.37 points per possession immediately following Wembanyama rejections that stay inbounds, according to information compiled by NBA stats and supplied to The Athletic. For perspective, the Cleveland Cavaliers own the league’s top attack right now at 1.22 points per possession.

The Spurs’ greatest form of offense is a Wembanyama block.

But their greatest defense isn’t always when he gets his hand on the ball. Sometimes, it’s a hasty giveaway, like the one from Jokić; or a frenetic series of prayers, like the ones from Portis; or a shot that never occurs at all, like on Lillard’s reset.

Sometimes, the threat of a Wembanyama block is as scary as a block itself.

“It just strikes fear in opponents’ hearts,” Champagnie said. “That’s the best part about it. It’s like, yeah, he’s tall. He almost blocks every shot that comes his way. So anybody who’s going to the basket, you got that little double-take to see where he’s at.”

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(Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; photos of Victor Wembanyama: Luke Hales, Melissa Tamez / Getty Images)