How good is Victor Wembanyama? What makes him so intriguing? And is he really the best prospect ever? This film breakdown discusses the 2023 #1 pick in the NBA draft, the evolution of big men prospects from Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan, and how the game has changed for giant centers and how they can use their size on today.

My NBA App profile on Wembanyama: https://app.link.nba.com/TB-Wemby

Support at Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thinkingbasketball
Book: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Basketball-Ben-Taylor/dp/1532968175
Podcast: https://player.fm/series/thinking-basketball or at https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ben-taylor/thinking-basketball-podcast
Website: https://www.backpicks.com
Twitter: @elgee35

Ben Taylor is the author of Thinking Basketball, a Nylon Calculus contributor, creator of the Backpicks Top 40 series & host of the Thinking Basketball podcast.

Stats courtesy:
http://www.pbpstats.com @bballport
https://www.basketball-reference.com
https://stats.nba.com
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Footage in this video is owned by the NBA and its partners. It is intended for critique and education.

Music by Cody Martin (Epiphany instrumental)

#ThinkingBasketball

20 Comments

  1. I sincerely hope I am wrong on this but Wembanyama looks so porzingisy to me, I really doubt he will ever complete a full NBA season.

  2. And the idea that coach Popovich will teach him in the next half a decade makes it even scarier

  3. Nah. Beeing big wasn't enough to Wilt & Bill. They were track and fielders also. I didn't like Kareem çomparison eather. Maybe they both are skinny and tall, that's it. Wemby is just like Ralph Sampson his height and playing is similar and hype was just the same. They even interviewed him in the middle of NBA Finals game in -83. Wemby and Sampson even looks like father and son… not that great basketball thinking today. Bye

  4. i think TB is the best channel on basketball, but the way he underplays wilt's durability and skills truly is disheartening. True shame even though I love all his breakdowns

  5. He reminds me of Ralph Sampson, tbh. Let’s just hope his career lasts longer, that he has more health and can fulfill his potential at a maximum level. Sampson who was also a VERY hyped prospect (people forget), had incredible height/length as well, was slender and very mobile, a great athlete, blocking shots, catching lobs, was crazy at them rim attacks, he could play more on the perimeter and had a jumper (obviously not out to 3pt land because that wasn’t the game back then), had handles, he even matched up pretty well with Hakeem due to the fact that Olajuwon could be more of a center while Ralph more of a PF… They even made their way to the Finals at an early stage of their careers, imagine what they could’ve done if Ralph stayed healthy and such (because you could also argue that he WASN’T mentally wired to live up to an all-time great potential like that)!

  6. I am alife long Spurs fan and i am not convinced about this guy…. If we draft him he should remain in france till he plays a Euroleague game …. Luka is so good because he killed it in the euro league

  7. So refreshing to listen to a sober, realistic analysis as opposed to the rampant hyperbole and exaggeration you see from too many so-called talent evaluators. I always appreciate Ben's perspective, but never more so than when everyone else seems to be completely unhinged.

  8. He is not like Kareem ..he is like arvidas sabonis …. Especially the way he works in the lower post

  9. Dude… Marcus smart to Memphis and KP to Boston was announced like …. Last night??? What a coincidence when explaining low-post, and changes in the rules, you show KP, then the very next clip is Marcus Smart taking a charge VS Memphis !?!?…. HMMMMM

  10. Just being big was never enough in the NBA. Plenty of 7 footers, very few of them played professional basketball. Bigs without skill flamed out pretty quick (see Eddy Curry, etc.).

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