NEW YORK – Victor Wembanyama said hello, but it was like “Hello, world” – like the moment another sport changed when an athlete who looked nothing like his predecessors or peers reported a seismic shift .
It was once Tiger Woods in his first Nike commercial. Wembanyama, in the flesh, in America, a day before he was sure to become the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, began to take stock of everything around him.
He walked confidently to the podium inside a hotel ballroom for his stand-alone press briefing on Wednesday morning, while the other Green Room recruits shuffled into a separate ballroom – waiting the end of his availability so that they can have a time slot.
“Whoa, he’s big as f***,” an unnamed prospect was heard talking about Wembanyama. “I didn’t think he was that big.”
All the pictures of the 7-foot-4 phenom can barely do him justice. Its size stands out, but it’s no bean, despite its 220-pound list. Wembanyama carries a presence that signals an awareness not only of his size, but of what he means, potentially: a new day in a changing and transforming NBA.
He’s almost like a player created in a video game – explosive from the rebound, with grips and a jump shot that looks solid. He can also protect the rim and has an aptitude that suggests the transition to the NBA won’t be as difficult as other foreign players, even those who have proven to be excellent.
But before he took the stage to shake hands with commissioner Adam Silver as the San Antonio Spurs’ next big showpiece, following in the footsteps of David Robinson and Tim Duncan, he had to take a slice of New York life.
He rode the crowded New York City subway, then drove to Yankee Stadium to throw out the first pitch of Tuesday night’s baseball game. For a 19 year old he certainly feels good about himself even though he is in a very foreign place.
“It was so much fun,” Wembanyama said. “I just know that I like the city. I’ll probably try to sneak out tonight because I really want to see the city, walk to Times Square and all that. I really haven’t seen the city yet.
He said there were a lot of people outside his downtown hotel, as was the case when the flight he was on landed in Newark – many people ask for autographs and photos. But he seems aware that comes with the territory.
Although he will follow Robinson and Duncan, drafted No. 1s 10 years apart as generational talents, Wembanyama isn’t shy about stepping into the spotlight. Robinson and Duncan avoided the personal spotlight, preferring to blend in with their teammates.
Wembanyama certainly has an overview of team play, but he doesn’t shy away from attention. He balked at getting his Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 teammate Bilal Coulibaly on the draft boards – even saying Coulibaly’s listed height and weight are accurate compared to how those numbers are falsified for others prospects entering the draft.
“We don’t do that in France,” he joked about Coulibaly’s dimensions. “To be a teammate with him again would be great.”
There is speculation that Spurs are trying to move up in the first round to draft Coulibaly.
It’s hard to be 7-4 and feel comfortable, but Wembanyama seems to understand his pedigree and the expectations – displaying both a seriousness and a lightheartedness in his approach.
“I try to be the best. All dimensions in the work of a basketball player, NBA player,” Wembanyama said. “I want to be the best in the media, the press conference stuff. I don’t like to do things by halves, so I try to take advantage of that.
That sound that sounded like an earthquake on this quote was a roar from Park Avenue, where the league’s headquarters are. Having a star who understands responsibility and wants to step into all aspects of his potential greatness is something the NBA can build on as it prepares for a post-LeBron James league.
Expectations are so high, especially in the wake of Zion Williamson – the last Next Big Thing before his presence on the floor was eclipsed by his appearance in gossip blogs and other places – it can swallow someone whole.
It was suggested and then presented to Wembanyama that a career similar to Kevin Durant and Hakeem Olajuwon would be a disappointment. Durant is a two-time Finals MVP and 2014 MVP. Olajuwon is a two-time Finals MVP and 1994 MVP, both of which are on the very short list of the greatest players of all time.
“I’m not letting any of this go to my head,” Wembanyama said. “I have such high expectations for myself, I’m immune to it all, I really don’t care.”
The claim that a career in the top 20 would be somehow underwhelming seems ludicrous to say and repeat. But it certainly speaks to how the league has been preparing for Wembanyama for some time to hit the streets of the NBA.
The matches of his France team, Metropolitans 92, were televised on NBA TV and on the NBA application. Chances are more people have seen Wembanyama than the average of the top five college prospects, even though college basketball games are much more readily available to watch than games in a time zone more than six hours away. advance.
For his part, Wembanyama said he’s been preparing to be here since he was 12, which doesn’t put him in a different position than most prep stars who have been pushed and pushed since. this age with the hope that they will. come here.
But he doesn’t carry the weariness of having been in the meat grinder of so many young players, and he hasn’t backed down from playing for his team even with the NBA so close on the horizon.
“It’s not that difficult. This year has been really special,” said Wembanyama. “I never had these kinds of responsibilities as a basketball player. I had to push a lot of guys up and make them as good as possible. I didn’t have the time or the energy to think about stuff on the side.
“I’ve always been the youngest, like much younger than everyone. When I was 15 I was playing guys who were around 21. It wasn’t until this year that I got the chance. “opportunity to learn that kind of responsibility. It’s been the best thing of my career so far.”
So far, there have been no missteps, no regrets as he is on the threshold of a new phase in his life – nothing he wishes to repeat.
“I have always had this ambition. So if I had the chance to talk to myself younger, I wouldn’t say anything,” Wembanyama said. “Because I don’t want to disturb what I did to get here. I would do the exact same thing.
Hi world. Here is Victor.