Top things you should know about Victor Wembanyama  

There is one name on every basketball fan's lips at the moment: Victor Wembanyama.

The 2.19m (7-foot-4) 18-year-old Frenchman has been touted as a generational talent not just for his physical appearance, which includes an eye-watering 2.4m (8-foot-long) wingspan, but also his on-court finesse that sees him able to drill three-point shots with ease.

While he may have been on the radar of scouts for some time, it wasn’t until a two-game pre-season series between his team, LNB Pro A side Metropolitan 92, and the G League Ignite in Las Vegas, Nevada that he was properly introduce to the world.

And now no-one can stop talking about him.

The towering centre averaged 36.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 4.5 blocks across the two games, helping the French outfit avenge their first loss to finish 1-1 overall. But the scores almost didn’t matter.

The young man from Le Chesnay showed he was a cut above the rest including Scoot Henderson, who had been projected to go early in the 2023 NBA Draft.

He is a certified future star that already has the legends of the game talking, but here’s what else you should know about Victor Wembanyama.

Wembanyama - part of a promising basketball dynasty

Wembanyama was born on 4 January 2004, in Le Chesnay, a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, to two former athletes.

His father (2m / 6ft 6 tall), Felix Wembanyama, is a former field athlete, while his mother, (1.92m / 6ft 3) Elodie de Fautereau, is a ex-basketball player and now coach.

As a child, Wembanyama played football, often as a goalkeeper, and tried out judo before eventually turning to basketball under his mother's guidance.

He is also not the only sporty Wembanyama offspring.

Victor’s older sister, Eve, also practices hoops and won gold with France at the FIBA U16 European championships in 2017 alongside newly minted 2022 WNBA champion Iliana Rupert and Marine Fauthoux.

His younger brother Oscar is currently rising up through the basketball ranks. The 15-year-old recently signed for ASVEL’s U18 team.

READ MORE: Victor Wembanyama impresses in his first game in the USA

A mistake led to his discovery

It was during an U11 game in Versailles that Wembanyama was first scouted.

Coach of Nanterre basketball club Michael Allard went along to watch when the assistant coach on the bench caught his eye.

With his impressively long frame he began to wonder what he must be like as a player.

Moments later he had his question answered.

Because the figure that had captured his imagination was not part of the coaching staff but rather, it was Wembanyama. Allard immediately picked up the phone and rang the technical director in charge of the U11 programme at JSF Nanterre to tell him about his recent find.

Shortly after, Wembanyama moved to the club and stayed there going through the youth ranks. He made his professional debut for Nanterre in EuroCup in 2019. A year later he then made his LNB Pro A debut and later would go on to win the 2020-21 Pro A Best Young Player of the Year award.

Last season the Frenchman signed for ASVEL on a three-year contract but after picking up the Best Young Player award for the second year running he opted out of the franchise to sign with Metropolitans 92 his current club.

How good is Victor Wembanyama? Just ask Nicolas Batum

With his imposing stature Wembanyama is like a magnet for attention, and that’s even before he plays.

One person who couldn’t help but stare when they saw the teen in action was Tokyo 2020 silver medallist Nicolas Batum.

At the time only 14, Wembanyama was playing near where the French national team were practicing and, on his way out, Batum stopped to watch.

Speaking to Andscape the LA Clippers man said he didn’t hesitate to go and greet the talent that had impressed him so much:

“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 (former French NBA player and now majority owner of ASVEL) 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.”

Who will draft Victor Wembanyama?

After his impressive exhibition game performances in Las Vegas how Wembanyama will fair in the 2023 NBA Draft is a question many are already trying to answer.

But for those currently ruling the NBA they are already looking beyond next year when it comes to talk of Wembanyama.

Speaking about the prodigious talent in a press conference LeBron James said:

“I think probably the same as everybody else thinks,” James said. “Everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien. No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and graceful as he is on the floor.

"He’s for sure a generational talent. Hopefully, he continues to stay healthy. That’s the important thing for him.”

Adding his two cents to the matter, 2021 NBA Champion and back-to-back league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo revealed he had already heard about Wembanyama’s talent and is excited for what is to come

“I had the chance to watch Victor play in 2021, a year ago, for the first time because my little brother, Kostas [Antetokounmpo], played for ASVEL and they were teammates. And he’s incredible, man,” the ‘Greek Freak’ said between exhibition games in Abu Dhabi.

“His skills, the way he can shoot the ball, the way he can move, he’s extremely fast for his size, he can block shots, he can be a threat on the defensive end, he’s unbelievable. I believe it’s only a matter of time until he’s in the league.

"For him, the key is just to keep getting better, keep staying humble, and stay healthy. With a body like that and a skill set like that, as long as he stays healthy, he’s going to keep improving. And keep enjoying the game as much as he can.”

Three-time Olympic champion Kevin Durant, who the French sensation has been compared to, reflected on how Wembanyama is a game-changer when it comes to the future of the NBA:

"That type of talent and skill just puts a smile on your face if you play basketball. The evolution of the game has taken us this far. We got a 7'5" dude that's able to do everything on the court. It's inspiring to a lot of people.

"The league's really in trouble when he comes in. I want to see how it plays out. Everybody has been excited about his arrival to the league, so we'll see what happens."

READ MORE: Victor Wembanyama named in France squad for November 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers