The hottest NBA draft prospect since LeBron James is taller than Shaquille O’Neal and still growing.
French teenager Victor Wembanyama is seen as the best young player in a generation and is all but certain to be selected with the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
Watch an average of 9 LIVE NBA Regular Season games per week on ESPN on Kayo Sports on ESPN on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
The 19-year-old is playing for Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 in France’s Pro A League, and turned heads in an exhibition game in October against expected No. 2 pick Scoot Henderson’s G League Ignite.
‘UNGUARDABLE’ ‘ Wenbenyama shines in US | 01:14
With his lanky physique, Wembanyama has been described as a taller version of Kevin Durant who can block shots for fun.
He officially stands 7’4” (224 cm) tall but according to ESPN, Wembanyama is now 7’5” (226cm) with shoes on, with a wingspan of eight feet (243cm) – and the scariest part is he’s still growing.
That makes Wembanyama taller than Durant (208cm) and Lakers legend O’Neal (216m), who dominated the NBA in the early 2000s.
And if Wembanyama was to join the NBA today, he would immediately become the league’s tallest player, ahead of the likes of Houston’s Boban Marjanovic (224cm), Washington’s Kristaps Porzingis (221cm) and Boston’s Luke Kornet (218cm).
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes Wembanyama’s height and athleticism will make him an unstoppable force once he joins the NBA in his rookie season.
“This is a different prospect to what we’ve ever seen before, especially coming out of Europe. His shooting form is textbook,” he said on the ‘Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective’ podcast.
“This guy is so serious about being great. I don’t know if will be. There’s no such thing as a ‘can’t miss’ prospect, but he is doing everything in his power to be great from day one. I think from day one in the NBA, he will be a dominating defensive force. He will alter shots like nobody we’ve ever seen before. From day one, teams will have to game plan for dealing with him defensively.
“Wenbamyama isn’t even like LeBron 2.0. It’s like LeBron 3.0. It’s a completely different situation. You’re going to be alarmed at how thin he is. He’s listed at 230 pounds (104kg), he is 7-foot-4-ish, 7-foot-5. He looks very slight. He doesn’t look he has much bulk. He looks like he could get knocked over by a stiff breeze.”
LeBron James has described Wembanyama as a “generational talent” and an “alien”.
“We’re labelling him like this unicorn thing,” James told reporters in a press conference.
“Everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien.
“I’ve never seen – no one has ever seen – anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is out on the floor. He’s a generational talent and hopefully he continues to stay healthy.”
Sports Illustrated posted a profile on Wembanyama on Tuesday in which he admitted he liked the ‘alien’ label.
“I’m really glad he said that because I didn’t like to be called a unicorn,” Wembanyama said. “I like being called an alien, it’s just something not from this world. It’s really what I’m working to be — something unique and original.”
James knows first-hand what Wembanyama is going through as the far as the hype surrounding him before every playing an NBA game. The league’s all-time leading scorer was a can’t-miss prospect coming out of high school before being selected No. 1 overall by the Cavaliers in 2003.
Wembanyama has also drawn high praise from Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“The way his skills are, the way he could shoot the ball, the way he can move, he’s extremely fast for his size, can block shots, can be a threat on the offensive end, he’s unbelievable,” the Greek Freak said.
“We have never seen something like that before. I think it’s a good challenge for everybody around the league, to have somebody that’s 7’2” be able to shoot, dribble like he’s a guard, to block shots, to run down the door fast. We got to get ready for this kid. He’s going to be really good.”
Wembanyama is averaging 22.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.1 blocks a game this season in the LNB Pro A league — France’s top pro league. He is widely considered to be a player with groundbreaking talent that can instantly elevate whichever team he lands with.
The Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets appear best placed to land Wembanyama if they land the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery.
Those four teams all have less than 20 wins with a quarter of the NBA season remaining.
Sections of this story originally appeared on the NY Post and is reproduced with permission.
