Victor Wembanyama entered the NBA with the highest expectations seen since Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James was drafted by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2003. And like James, Wembanyama has somehow already exceeded the impossible standards placed in front of him.
With Wembanyama being listed at 7’5″, many point to his height and length as the only reason why he has taken the league by storm. But James pushed back on that idea and laid out what makes the San Antonio Spurs star so special.
“He’s not the first guy in our league that’s been tall,” James said on the latest edition of his “Mind the Game” podcast. “He’s not the first guy in our league that had length or been tall, he’s not, so we can nip that in the bud right now guys. And yes, it is a factor because his length, his size, the way he’s able to cover a lot of ground, especially defensively.
“But when we talk about what he’s able to do offensively. His ability to put the ball on the ground, we’ve seen him iso-ing multiple Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert multiple times on the perimeter. Hitting him with snatch-backs, spins, up-and-unders, dream shakes, fadeaways. We’ve seen him cross-dribble, step-back out of the corner for 3. His ability to catch and his coordination, which sometimes looks uncoordinated, but it’s because of his length. His ability to catch the ball with his back towards the basket, or half his body, and be able to find the rim before he even lands, that is coordination that we’ve never seen before and it’s not just because he’s tall. It’s because he has the ability to do things that we haven’t seen in our league like, ever.
“But his IQ, you can tell by the way he talks, you can tell by his demeanor he knows the game. He was taught the game the right way and San Antonio continues to get lucky as f— with these generational-talented, IQ, smart, but keep the main thing the main thing. David Robinson, Tim Duncan and now Wemby. Guys who just have this dead serious mentality. They have these horse blinders on and they’re like the mission is the mission and that’s all that matters. It’s pretty remarkable to see.”
Wembanyama is truly a talent unlike anything that has ever been seen in the NBA. As James said, there have been others as tall or close to it, but none have come close to the skill level of the Spurs young phenom and that can not be overlooked.
James is probably the only basketball player on earth to understand the level of pressure on Wembanyama from the moment he was drafted and he is already on the path to being one of the best players the league has ever seen.
LeBron James details thought process going into free agency
James may have already played his final game against Wembanyama as the Lakers superstar contemplates retirement this offseason after 23 years in the league. He is also an unrestricted free agent this summer should he choose to continue playing and James recently outlined his thought process going into the summer.
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