As one of the most hyped-up and exciting talents in league history, San Antonio Spurs rookie wunderkind Victor Wembanyama is already garnering comparisons to some of the greatest to ever play the game before he has played a single second of actual, regular season NBA basketball.
Hall of Fame Boston Celtics big man Kevin Garnett went through something similar if not quite as intense as a prep school to pro player bypassing college in an era when such a move was seen as risky, and knows a bit about that sort of pressure. Garnett recently shared how being such a player comes with a significant target on one’s back, with opponents eager to prove themselves against the next big thing coming out of the NBA hype machine.
“Absolutely he has a target on his back,” shared Garnett in a video shared by the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn. “Everybody is going to set their level to the number one player, and you’re going to see what their level is.”
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The Big Ticket did not seem to worried about Wemby, however, as he threw in a smidge of counsel for the young star. “You can look up to people, be a fan of people, but at the same time when you compete, you want to beat those people.” he offered. “He’ll be alright.”
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