French basketball player Victor Wembanyama (right) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being picked by the San Antonio Spurs during the NBA Draft in New York. Photo: Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP
Victor Wembanyama was selected as the first overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs at the NBA Draft.
At 7 feet, 4 inches (2.24m) the 19-year-old Frenchman is seen as a once-in-a-generation talent and is the highest-drafted French player in league history.
He has the size of a centre but the ball handling, passing and shooting abilities of a guard, a combination with the potential to revolutionise the sport.
'Wemby' comes into the league with a buzz that has not been seen since LeBron James, the league's all-time leading scorer, was drafted out of high school 20 years ago.
Wembanyama cried with joy after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called his name at Barclays Center.
"I've accomplished something that I've been dreaming of my whole life," he said.
"Hearing that sentence from Adam Silver, I dreamed about it. I've got to cry.
"This is the best night of my life."
He is dangerous shooting the ball from long range and athletic enough to rebound and dunk his own misses.
With a wing span of close to 8 feet, he can block shots and grab rebounds with ease and gets up and down the floor quickly for a player of his size.
Despite his height, he weighs only 104 kilograms and it remains to be seen whether he can bulk up before the regular season kicks off in late October.
Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich will look to further develop his unique skill set in the hopes of resurrecting the storied franchise, which has missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons and has not advanced past the opening round since 2017.
"I've felt so much love towards me by the Spurs fans," Wembanyama said.
"I think there's murals of me in the city of San Antonio. This is so incredible. I could not ask for a better welcome than this. I really love the fan base, man."
A fan displays a French basketball player Victor Wembanyama jersey after his selection for the San Antonio Spurs. Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON
San Antonio has selected first overall twice before, choosing future Basketball Hall of Famers David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997.
They led the Spurs to two NBA titles, and Duncan won three more with San Antonio.
The team have a history of success with French players, including Tony Parker, who led them to four championships between 2003 and 2014 and whom Wembanyama grew up admiring.
The previous highest-drafted French player to the NBA was Killian Hayes, selected seventh by the Detroit Pistons in 2020.
Basketball is popular in France, and the country has produced more NBA players than any other country outside North America.
Wembanyama is coming off a solid campaign with Metropolitans 92, a professional team in the French League, where he averaged 21.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game and won several awards, including being named most valuable player.
After Wembanyama went first overall, the Charlotte Hornets selected Brandon Miller with the second pick and the Portland Trail Blazers chose Scoot Henderson with the third.
According to reports, San Antonio has seen a surge in season ticket sales, along with 10 times the amount of web traffic and Spurs app downloads since winning the NBA Draft Lottery last month.
Wembanyama's endorsement deal with Nike is expected to be the most the company has ever paid for a basketball player, likely in the $US100 million range over 10 years, Bob Dorfman, creative director and market analyst for Pinnacle Advertising, told Reuters.
French brands that do big business in the U.S. such as Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Peugeot and Dior could be next, Dorfman said.
"They'll all be jumping on his bandwagon," he said.
-Reuters
