Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft and heads to San Antonio with huge expectations to become basketball’s newest sensation.
The 19-year-old Frenchman’s selection, which had been known for months, was announced by NBA commissioner Adam Silver Thursday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, followed by chants of “Wemby!” Wemby” from a group of Spurs supporters waving signs from the front row of seats.
Wembanyama arrives with much more scope and enthusiasm than most of the first picks. At 2.24m tall, he dominated the French Championship in his last season, being the best scorer, rebounder and shot blocker of all players.
Today, he enters the NBA, perhaps as the hottest prospect since LeBron James graduated from high school in 2003. Wembanyama brings a skill set that seems perfect for the modern NBA and too broad for just one. player, with the size of a center and the shooting and ball handling abilities of a playmaker.
