Each year, basketball players between the ages of 18-21 train hard to hear their name called at the NBA Draft, but there can only be one #1 overall pick. The first overall pick goes to one of the teams with the worst record during the prior NBA season. The first overall pick is usually the best projected player in the draft class. Many first-overall picks, such as Lebron James, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, have turned out to be some of the greatest basketball players of all time. Other first-overall picks, such as Greg Oden, Kwame Brown, and Anthony Bennett, never lived up to their potential and soon found themselves out of the league early in their careers.
While the past few first-overall picks have not turned into superstars, this year, there is incredible hype about the projected first overall pick. His name is Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama is a French professional basketball player for Metropolitans 92 of the LNB Pro A (French basketball league). He is widely projected to be the first-overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft and is considered one of the greatest prospects of his generation. Wembanyama is 19 years old, 7’4″, 229 pounds, and has a whopping 8-foot wingspan. While this may surprise some people, in the history of the NBA, there have been only 47 players of 7 feet tall or taller. Wembanyama is looking to become the 48th. Most basketball players who are over 7 feet tall have struggled with speed and shooting 3-pointers. Scouts are very excited about Wembanyama because he can block shots, rebound, and score in the paint like a traditional big man, but he can also move, dribble, shoot, and create shots like a much smaller player. This season, he is currently averaging 22.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, and 2.3 assists per game.
Wembanyama has already gained the attention of some of the NBA’s biggest stars. In a post-game interview during the preseason, NBA superstar and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James said, “Everybody’s been labeled a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien. No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is, but as fluid and as graceful as he is on the floor. At 7’4″, he has the ability to put the ball on the floor, shoot step-back jumpers out of the post, step-back 3s, catch-and-shoot 3s, and block shots. He’s for sure a generational talent.” Another NBA superstar, Milwaukee Bucks Forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, said, “This kid is going to be a problem. A big problem. I’ve never seen this before in my life. I saw him up close; he was on the same team as my brother Kostas. He’s taller than Rudy Gobert. He can block shots like Rudy but shoot like KD. He is crazy. He has a good attitude. If he stays healthy, he’s going to be really good.”
While many people are excited about Wembanyama, there are some concerns. Being his size can come with some serious problems, such as getting injured. Chet Holmgren, a 7’1″ center who was the second-overall pick in last year’s draft, tore his ACL while playing in a pick-up basketball game with LeBron James and others. Similarly, Yao Ming, a high-potential first-overall pick, never lived up to his hype and had a career-ending injury. Ming, like Wembanyama, was super tall at 7’6″ and 310 pounds. Coming into the 2002 NBA draft, Yao Ming was supposed to be the next great center in the league. Year after year, he lost time due to issues with his lower body. In July of 2009, he retired after only eight seasons. People are hoping this is not the case with Wembanyama.
Another possible concern is whether Wembanyama will be able to live up to his potential due to how much pressure is being put on him. Coming into the draft, he is the highest-rated prospect since LeBron James in the 2003 NBA Draft and has the most hype surrounding him since Zion Williamson in the 2019 NBA Draft. The difference between Wembanyama and Williamson and James is that Williamson and James had played against other top players in their draft classes. Wembanyama is coming from the French league, which has a different pace/style of play. The competition in the United States is also much tougher than in France.
With the half-way point in the NBA season coming up, teams will decide whether they want to keep pushing to make the playoffs, or whether they want to “tank” to increase their chances of getting the sacred first-overall pick in the NBA Draft. Until the draft in June, Wembanyama will continue to dominate and help Metropolitans 92 win the LNB Pro-A championship. He will also continue to get better and better and show why he is worthy of being picked first overall. He will either be the future of the NBA or one of the biggest failures in league history. To Wembanyama, it’s either succeed or bust. My prediction is that Wembanyama will become a pioneer of true positionless basketball, and I doubt that he will be the last big man with a skill set like his, but anything is possible.
