When Victor Wembanyama first entered the NBA consciousness as the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, his name was tossed around with some of the league's all-time greats.
"He's the best prospect since LeBron James!"
"He's the best prospect since Kareem Adbul-Jabbar!"
These were real talking points — and not a single argument could be made to the contrary. Normally, when we start throwing 20-year-olds into the same bucket as LeBron, it qualifies as gross hyperbole. It's an unfair burden of expectation for any player to live up to. With Wemby, however, all the lofty praise was justified. He really is the "greatest" basketball prospect since James took the U.S. by storm in 2003.
Trying to pinpoint greatness in a prospect is amorphous and subjective, but it's all right there on the surface with Wembanyama. Basically keeping France's Metropolitans 92 afloat on his own, Wemby was dominating the highest levels of European competition as a teenager. He was practically built in a lab to invigorate NBA scouts. Listed at 7-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Wembanyama has an 8-foot wingspan. He is the longest player in the NBA, and yet he's also frequently on the perimeter, bombing 3s, attacking tight spaces off the bounce, and whipping live-dribble passes like the world's stretchiest point guard.
We are less than two years into Wembanyama's NBA career. His second season has already been cut short by an unfortunate case of deep vein thrombosis in his right shoulder. And yet, despite a limited sample size and the highest standards an NBA newcomer has faced in decades, Wemby is ranked sixth in FanSided's NBA99, a ranking of the league's best players. He has lived up to every ounce of hype.
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Why Victor Wembanyama is ranked ahead of Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and more in FanSided's NBA99
Victor Wembanyama ranks ahead of Kevin Durant, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, all more established and accomplished stars. So, why so much faith in the San Antonio Spurs big man? Even in the face of such a brutal setback with the blood clot in his shoulder?
Well, it's really rather simple — Wemby has earned it. He has. He's just that good, that soon.
There is not a more disruptive, impactful defensive player in the NBA. Wemby's length changes the entire geometry of the court. There are plenty of intimidating rim protectors, but none confound and frighten folks quite like Wembanyama. Guards rarely drive in his direction. Even stronger, more physical bigs are suffocated in the post. Wemby is long and coordinated enough to get knocked off his center of gravity and still block a 7-footer's hook shot.
Not only does Wemby have an 8-foot wingspan and a 9-foot-7 standing reach — he's mobile. Stupidly so. His ability to guard at the level on screens, switch onto the perimeter, and cover ground as a roamer is straight up unfair. It shouldn't be possible for a human to blanket such a large area of the court on every possession.
Wemby doesn't get beat often, but when he does, it's easy for him to recover and block a shot from behind. He can put a hand in the guard's face on a pick-and-roll, then flip his hips and swat the rolling big's finish like he was playing the paint the entire time. It's just incredible to watch Wemby work on that end of the floor.
The Spurs' defense is 7.6 points per 100 possessions better with Wembanyama on the floor, in the NBA's 95th percentile, per Cleaning the Glass. The Spurs are an elite rebounding team on both ends with Wemby out there, and oh yeah, he's scoring 24.3 points and 3.7 assists on .476/.352/.836 splits.
If there was a slight knock on Wemby's game as a rookie, it was his mediocre scoring efficiency. He was thrust into a burdensome role out of the gate and forced to take a lot of difficult shots outside the flow of the offense.
The 21-year-old settled into a much better rhythm in 2024-25, and it will only get easier with De'Aaron Fox setting the table moving forward. Wemby has streamlined his shot profile, embracing 3s (to the tune of 8.8 attempts per game) and cleaning up everything within arm's reach of the basket.
There will be old-heads who question why a player with Wemby's physical gifts spends so much time on the perimeter, but there's so much value in a true stretch big. There just aren't many 7-footers shooting at Wemby's volume from 3-point range. It draws opposing centers out of the paint, and it opens up the rest of his scoring repertoire — whether that's darting to the rim for a lob or facing up for a drive. Wemby's handles and finesse, at his size, are unprecedented. He's comfortable taking his man off the bounce, dribbling through tight spaces, and uncorking a pull-up jumper in the mid-range. Obviously, there isn't a soul in the NBA capable of blocking (or even really contesting) Wembanyama's shot.
The holes in Wemby's game are few and far between, and he's still getting better. We are in the very early stages of Wembanyama's career arc. There's a good chance he's much higher than No. 6 in our rankings before long. This is just the beginning.