Victor Wembanyama came to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (New York) with a dark green suit and a pendant that, as he explained, was like a miniature comic book galaxy. The clothing with which he would go down in history was the biggest unknown in the NBA draft ceremony in relation to the French center. Everyone knew I was going to be number one, the first chosen. And everyone knew, therefore, that he will play next season for the San Antonio Spurs, who won the lottery last month. That is how it has been. Wembanyama, 19 years old and about 2.24 meters tall (7 feet 4 inches is his provisional official height), aspires to mark an era in American professional basketball or, what is almost the same, in world basketball.
Although the draft pick was held in New York, thousands of miles away the Spurs pavilion was overflowing celebrating the arrival of the new messiah of the basket. The last time San Antonio had the first shift, in 1997, they chose Tim Duncan, who won five championship rings for the Texans, always with Gregg Popovich as coach. He has been on the bench since 1996. It's going to be difficult to beat that bar, especially as Wembanyama arrive at what last season was one of the worst teams in the championship.
A star can be key in the evolution of a team, as Michael Jordan or LeBron James showed in their day, but basketball is a team game and even those superstars did not get rid of mediocre seasons with their clubs. Wembanyama has not been able to lead his team, Metropolitans 92, to win the French league.
In any case, the Frenchman fits perfectly in modern NBA basketball, in which it is not enough with high pivots who fight under the hoop, but it is valued that they are skilled at dribbling the ball and have aim when shooting to the basket from long distance. The Frenchman has all these virtues and defends his way of playing, unusual for someone so tall.
The history of drafts is full of successes and mistakes. Michael Jordan (third in his promotion), Larry Bird (6th), Kobe Bryant (13th), Giannis Antetokounmpo (15th), Nikola Jokić (41st), Stephen Curry (7th) and Joel Embiid (3rd) were relegated by players who left much less footprint. On the other hand, others like LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O'Neal were number ones that marked their era.
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