Even with an NBA preseason slate featuring the long-awaited return of Zion Williamson, it was another freak of nature that caught the fascination of social media. Victor Wembanyama showed the basketball world that he looks very well worth the hype.
While Wemby is only just starting to enter the consciousness of basketball watchers everywhere, NBA veteran and Victor's countryman in Nic Batum already knew for quite some time. The Frenchman recently detailed his first encounter with the highly sought-after prospect four years prior, before any of the hype and fanfare that surrounds him today, via Marc J. Spears of Andscape:
“I saw this 14-year-old kid walking and I said, ‘Hold up. Let me watch this kid play.’ I saw him moving, dribbling and I called Tony Parker right away and said, ‘We got to get this guy Victor Wembanyama.’ For anyone listening, I have been telling people during the last four years about him. They’re listening now,” Batum recently told Andscape.
Wembanyama was “still” just 6'11” at the time, but someone with a versatile skill set at that size is already primed for superstardom. Now at 7'3″ with a wingspan that stretches out somewhere close to eight feet long, he's gone from tantalizing talent to absolute oddity.
Team France has long been one of the most formidable national teams in FIBA with several NBA players going through their ranks. One sideline session watching him and Nic Batum knew that the kid had potential to be the future of their team.
As it stands, it looks like Victor Wembanyama could be the future of basketball itself if he reaches his full potential.
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