Victor Wembanyama is a seven-foot-four forward and center who has all the makings of a great NBA player. Wembanyama – “Wemby” for short – entered the mainstream basketball scene in the fall of 2022, following the National Basketball Association (NBA) G League Ignite team. played against Wemby team Metropolitans 92. Since then, Wemby has become a topic surrounding NBA media, so much so that the NBA has been telecast of Wemby matches. Eventually he became the consensus number one overall pick during the 2023 NBA Draft.
In a Article from NBC SportsKurt Helin wrote a message saying he thinks most people think of Wemby.
“Everyone in and around the NBA has tried to come up with player lineups – Kristaps Porzingis, Ralph Sampson, Tim Duncan – but the reality is Wembanyama is one of them,” Hélin wrote.
Most NBA fans already considered Wemby “one of the only ones”, due to his seven-foot-four height, dribbling skills and high IQ.
This hype only comes around once in a generation. The last NBA player significantly spotted and talked about to this extent was LeBron James in the early 2000s. In 2002, Sports Illustrated dubbed James “The chosen one.” This nickname added to the hype surrounding the then 18-year-old athlete.
When the 2003 NBA Draft came around, James was the consensus number one pick and was selected first by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Having taken the league by storm, James’ gifts have prompted many fans to include him in conversations about who is the best. greatest basketball player all time.
In my opinion, James was the better player, but can Wemby perform the same functions? I doubt the hype on these social media platforms will live up to what Wemby can do for basketball. James has an extensive collection of accolades, such as Rookie of the Year in 2004, four-time league MVP, four-time Finals MVP, and four-time NBA champion. With that in mind, many fans have similar expectations of Wemby.
Whether or not it lives up to the expectations predicted for it is a question that has yet to be answered. At the time of writing, Wemby has only played three games – and still has plenty to prove.
If you look closely at Wemby, anyone can see that he is a perfect fit for what an NBA player should be. His popularity is reflected in social media, making Wemby seem like a bigger prospect than he might be.
Every time Wemby made a great game for the Metropolitans 92, spanning from the fall of 2022 through the NBA draft lottery, it would be all over any sports social media account you could think of. ESPNSports center, NBA And Launderer’s Report are all companies that have posted about Wemby on official NBA social media accounts.
This media coverage has only increased since Wemby arrived in the NBA. On June 22, Wemby was the first pick of the San Antonio Spurs. Before the draft, Wemby was constantly posted on all social media platforms; when the NBA Draft Lottery was happening, it was just a Wemby lottery: which team would be able to select Wemby with the first pick?
With Wemby in the spotlight, NBA social media was entirely focused on monitoring the NBA Draft Lottery until the first overall pick was announced. I could blame this over-posting of Wemby on an off-season drought of available content, as generally most of the content in rotation for NBA media tends to be trade storylines, draft prospects, and big players who have been traded or have requested an exchange. But after every San Antonio Spurs game, the media canvas with messages of each of Wemby’s pieces.
Wemby joins an elite group of power forwards and centers who have played for the San Antonio Spurs in the past – players like Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard And David Robinsonto name just a few legends.
Wemby’s hype continues to grow as many NBA fans, especially San Antonio fans, expect Wemby to achieve the same results as Duncan, Leonard and Robinson. Robinson, for example, spent his entire 14-year career in San Antonio and accomplished a lot for the organization. He is a two-time NBA champion, league MVP (Most Valuable Player) and 1990 Rookie of the Year. Duncan spent his 19-year career with the Spurs and is a five-time NBA champion, three-time Finals MVP , a two-time league MVP and the 1998 Rookie of the Year. Leonard still plays in the league today but was very impactful for the Spurs at the time. Leonard spent seven years with the Spurs and was Finals MVP when the Spurs won the NBA championship in 2014. At least a career like Leonard’s seems entirely achievable for Wemby, but a career like Duncan’s is the ceiling, in my opinion, for a player like Wemby.
I’m not saying the hype isn’t deserved; Wemby is a big player, but should everything Wemby does be posted on every known social media platform? This oversaturation of Wemby has been detrimental to other NBA events. Other players who play the same position as Wemby have not been posted as much; players like Joel Embiid, Kristaps Porzingis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Vucevic are just a few players who have been put on the back burner by the NBA media.
With the NBA season starting, I’m sure the social media dominance at Wemby will calm down. However, it still seems like the oversaturation of Wemby for us NBA fans will persist for a little while longer.
