Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama has looked pretty good to start his NBA career, but don’t ask Lakers coach Darvin Ham to draw up comparisons to LeBron James. As he explained to the media this week, Wemby still has a ways to go before he can be mentioned in the same breath as LeBron, whose 20-year body of work remains unmatched over the course of NBA history.
“He’s close but we’re just at the outset. The young fella is really, really impressive from what I’ve seen so far,” said Ham. “For the most part though, he has a long way to go. He definitely has the potential but when you talk about durability, the self-care, the work that’s put in… he has the potential but time will tell.”
With Sunday being the last 20th anniversary to the day of LeBron James’ NBA debut – with the Lakers playing in the same city, Sacramento, that LeBron played in for the Cavs back on 10/29/03 – I asked Darvin Ham if the Victor Wembanyama hype can compare at all to LeBron back then pic.twitter.com/Uwaq4sdD0A
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 28, 2023
Clearly, Ham isn’t ready to start drawing up comparisons between Wemby and Lebron but it’s hard to avoid them completely considering how much hype has surrounded the Spurs rookie. Touted as the greatest prospect since the King, Victor is projected to be among the NBA’s biggest stars within a few years. But if he wants to keep pace with Lebron James, the guy is going to have to deliver on an excellent season.
Rookie LeBron Was A Beast
LeBron is widely recognized today as an elite superstar but he’s been at this level for many years now. Even as a rookie, James was unmatched in terms of skill level, athleticism, and understanding of the game. In 79 games for the Cavs in the 2003-’04 season, he averaged 20.9 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.5 rebounds per game on 41% shooting. As a team, while the Cavs weren’t very good, LeBron was able to keep them near .500 for most of the season until they finished with a 35-47 record.
To date, that season remains the lowest-performing stretch of LeBron’s career. Even despite making a case for the All-Star team that year, it wasn’t until the next season that he had his “breakout” campaign that set him on the track to stardom. With two games under his belt so far, Wembanyama has only just begun his journey to greatness and it’s impossible to tell how he’ll be remembered when it’s all said and done.
Wembanyama Is On Track To Make History
In his final season for the Metropolitans 92, Wembanyama showed flashes of his potential with several inspired performances. In 34 games, he averaged 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on 47% shooting. Coming into the draft, he was drawing comparisons to NBA legends, including LeBron himself, and now it’s up to him to live up to those expectations.
So far, he has embraced the challenge of being in the spotlight and he’s off to a pretty solid start after putting up a combined 36 points in his first two games. With a matchup against the Clippers on Sunday, we’ll get a chance to see how Wembanyama stacks up against one of the best in the West. But from what we’ve seen so far with Wembanyama, he’s a star in the making and all signs point to him delivering on sky-high expectations early on.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
