One of the biggest storylines in the NBA this season is that of Victor Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 wunderkind rookie for the San Antonio Spurs. He has been called a generational prospect, and many believe he can become the best player in the league, if not a transcendent and transformational superstar, within about five years.
In his first two regular season games, he has shown plenty of promise. Although he shot just 7-of-19 on Friday, he came alive in crunch time, forcing overtime with a late basket. The Spurs defeated the Houston Rockets, 126-122, as the French phenom finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Many have called him the NBA’s best rookie prospect since LeBron James in 2003. Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was asked to compare the hype surrounding him to that of James when the latter was a rookie.
With Sunday being the last 20th anniversary to the day of LeBron James’ NBA debut – with the Lakers playing in the same city, Sacramento, that LeBron played in for the Cavs back on 10/29/03 – I asked Darvin Ham if the Victor Wembanyama hype can compare at all to LeBron back then pic.twitter.com/Uwaq4sdD0A
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 28, 2023
“It’s close, but again we’re just at the outset,” Ham said. “The young fella is really, really impressive, what I’ve seen thus far. And watching him when he was over in France. But for the most part, he has a long way to go. He definitely has the potential, but I mean when you talk about durability, the self-care, the work that’s put in, he has the potential I’ll say that again, but time will tell.”
Wembanyama is a much different player than James, but he has a very unique and uncanny ability to create off the dribble and hit perimeter shots despite his immense height and length. If he stays healthy, he should have a very good shot at living up to the hype surrounding him.
