When it comes to identifying talent, there are few in NBA history who can match up to the great Jerry West. West has been an executive in the league since the 1980s and has had a tremendous amount of success over the years.
He was the one who took a plunge by drafting a teenager named Kobe Bryant out of high school in 1996, as he knew Bryant could turn out to be really special. West saw Bryant at work up and close for so many years, and he believes Kobe was more advanced when he was 19 years old than Victor Wembanyama is now.
“Kobe was more advanced, he wasn’t that height, he wasn’t… body was bigger but they both bring a different kind of excitement to the game,” West said on The Dan Patrick Show.
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Bryant certainly wasn’t as tall as Wembanyama, of course, but West believes his game was more advanced than the Frenchman’s. While one could make the case for Wembanyama, there really are few men better qualified to assess the two of them than West, who had the best possible seat to evaluate Bryant during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers.
As a 19-year-old in the 1997-98 season, Kobe averaged 15.4 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.5 BPG. He had established himself as a fan-favorite already in his second year, as he was voted to be a starter for the All-Star game in 1998.
Jerry West Said Victor Wembanyama Reminded Him Of A Bigger Bill Russell
While West believes Kobe was more advanced at the same age, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t rate Wembanyama very highly. He gave him arguably the best compliment he could have, as he stated Wembanyama reminds him of a bigger Bill Russell.
“You rarely see someone that combines his brain and his ability. Just watching him play, it’s an easy game for him to play, very easy and it never looks like he is working. If you watch really great players, it never looks like they’re working hard. When you watch him defensively, he ruins games. He reminds me a little bit of a bigger Bill Russell with a big reach, coming from everywhere… any offensive player is gonna have to be really cautious about where he is because he’s gonna mess up some offenses that’s for sure.”
Wembanyama excelled at shot-blocking in the Summer League, as he averaged 4.0 BPG in his two games. It is hard to say just how good the Frenchman will be as a rookie, but the one thing we probably can say for certain is that he might quickly establish himself as one of the premier shot blockers in the league.
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