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Victor Wembanyama is a seven-foot-four giant who, this season, has established himself as a generational talent impacting both the NBA and French national team.
The 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs player dominated the league in his first season, scooping the Rookie of the Year award, and has stood out as a franchise athlete at his home Olympics in Paris.
Nicknamed ‘the Alien’ for his extraordinary height, wingspan and athleticism, he is on course to dominate for years to come.
“He just works every day, he puts a crazy amount of hours into his body, into his basketball IQ,” his Spurs team-mate Jeremy Sochan told BBC Sport.
The Parisian was the number one draft pick in 2023 joining the league with an enormous amount of hype behind him.
Averaging 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds for the 2023-24 season he was head and shoulders above his Spurs team-mates in a side that finished second bottom in the western conference.
And if you haven’t realised already from this article Wembanyama – we can’t stress this enough – is gigantic.
[BBC]Wembanyama is tied with the Houston Rockets’ Boban Marjanovic and Memphis Grizzlies’ Zach Edey as the tallest players currently in the NBA.
Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol are the tallest players to have ever played in the league, both standing at seven foot seven.
Wembanyama is tied as the ninth tallest player in NBA history with several players, including Marjanovic and Edey.
More than just height though…
His height, along with an estimated eight-foot wingspan, makes for a profile tailor-made for a centre who can be destructive in and around the basket.
But Wembanyama has said himself that he does not want to just play in that position.
And why should he? He’s got the dribbling ability of a wing, can shoot from most positions on the floor and provides an extraordinary blocking game… He offers versatility across the court.
And it’s the same on the French national team: he and Minnesota Timberwolves centre Rudy Gobert in tandem can serve as a defensive wall.
What’s next for ‘Wemby?’
Despite a poor record from a young side that looked to experiment with what position Wembanyama plays best,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/victor-wembanyama-frances-next-big-055724479.html
Author : BBC
Publish date : 2024-07-30 05:57:24
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