Victor Wembanyama – the ‘unicorn’ who is head and shoulders above the rest

Early on in game one of the NBA Finals, there was a passage of around eight seconds in which Victor Wembanyama made the extraordinary look ridiculously simple. On defense he reached across to swat away Josh Hart’s attempted lay-up, batting it off the glass with muted disdain. Then he sauntered up the court to position himself on the edge of the three-point line, waiting for Stephon Castle’s pass. Not one of the New York Knicks players were close to Wembanyama as the ball dropped through the net for three.

If you were charting significant moments by Wembanyama in his still young NBA career, I am not sure if that combination would crack the top fifty. Nailing a half-court shot as time expired recently during the West Finals? Now that would make the top ten.

Wembanyama was one of the most-hyped prospects not just in basketball, but across all sports. When a teenager in France is being whispered about to such an extent that his name escapes the confines of basketball fandom and becomes a talking point across America, long before Wembanyama was drafted No 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs three years ago, then you are talking about a generational talent.

Even though Wembanyama is 7ft 4in, his greatness is not because of his size. Giant players in the NBA are not exactly a new concept. What stands out with Wembanyama is the rare combination of stature and skill, combined with a ruthless determination to win – the kind of competitive hunger that puts him on a level with the greats of the sport.

His ability with blocks and rebounds meshed with a high scoring rate is incredibly rare, drawing legitimate comparisons with Shaquille O’Neal. Dunks and three-pointers grab all the attention but the importance of blocks, the change in momentum they create, cannot be overstated. Wembanyama led the regular season (197) and currently ranks first in the post-season for both blocks (67) and rebounds (204). Combine that with finishing the regular season inside the top 20 for points scored (1,600) and ranking second in the post-season? No wonder they describe Wembanyama as a unicorn.

Scouts first began watching Wembanyama – or to use his full name, Victor Nonga Wembanyama-de Fautereau-Vassel – when he was 11 years old and already 6ft 3in. At the age of 15, when he was 6ft 11in, Wembanyama was watched while playing in a youth game for Nanterre 92 by the CEO of the Spurs, R.C. Buford. Years later, Buford told The Athletic how that one trip, which had actually been taken to scout a much older player ahead of the NBA Draft, altered the Spurs’ planning for years to come.

Not that having one of the worst records in the NBA – as was the case with the Spurs in 2023 after winning just 22 games and losing 60 – entitles you to the best players in the draft. Instead you enter a lottery as one of 16 teams with the worst records in the league. This is to stop teams ‘tanking’ – deliberately losing – to then draft the best players with the No 1 pick.

Every one of those 16 sides, with a ball sporting their team’s logo bouncing around inside that lottery machine, would have been interested in Wembanyama. Given that San Antonio was home for 17 years to one of the greatest French players in NBA history, point guard Tony Parker, Wembanyama following in his footsteps just felt right. Parker won four championships with the Spurs and had his No 9 shirt retired, an all-time career. One that Wembanyama feels capable of matching.

There is also a depth to Wembanyama in how he addresses the media and articulates himself which is rare for someone his age. At the height of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation in Minnesota back in January, where two people were killed by immigration officers, Wembanyama could have followed the guidelines set out by his press officer and avoided the subject. Instead he confronted it.

“Every day I wake up and see the news, and I’m horrified. I think it’s crazy that some people might make it seem like or make it sound like the murder of civilians is acceptable,” Wembanyama said. He later added: “I know I’m a foreigner. I live in this country, and I have concerns for sure.”

Wembanyama’s nickname, “The Alien”, feels unfortunate in that context around immigration. Yet at 22 years old he appears ready to not only carry his franchise but the entire league on his back.

After the Spurs let a lead slip to the Knicks in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, losing 95-105, Wembanyama offered the following verdict on his first finals appearance.

“I was bad tonight. It’s not more complicated than that.” Even on a bad night, he still tied a record of three blocks in a finals debut set by three players who are now in Basketball’s Hall of Fame; O’Neal, Elvin Hayes and Hakeem Olajuwon.

The Knicks feel complete as a side, with so much momentum after 12 straight playoff wins and a superstar in point guard Jalen Brunson. But the Spurs have Wembanyama, a player in his first run in the playoffs already being spoken about in the same rarified air as Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. Who articulates himself better in his second language than most can in their first. Whose increasingly muscular frame is matched, somehow, by an astonishing skill-set and a hunger to win it all. That combination makes Wembanyama appointment viewing. A true unicorn.

Photograph by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images