Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Richard Jefferson has never shied away from bold takes, but his latest one might be his most controversial yet. On a recent episode of the Courtside Club podcast, Jefferson said that if he had to pick between LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama as prospects coming into the league, he’d take Wembanyama, and he’s not backing down.
“I stand by that a hundred percent. We didn’t know what LeBron was going to become. If you look at the history of sports, the big man has always been taken first. You look at Olajuwon and Sam Bowie drafted over Michael Jordan. You look at Greg Oden drafted over Kevin Durant. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the big goes first. That’s just the way it is.”
“LeBron James might have been the number one prospect, but there’s just something about that size that is such a unicorn. So if you would have had that seven-foot-three monster at seventeen or eighteen, and LeBron James is seventeen or eighteen, now, mind you, because it’s Cleveland and they had the number one pick, let’s just say it wasn’t overall.”
“Let’s say it was Dallas with the number one pick and they had to pick between the kid from Akron and the seven-foot-four unicorn that was doing what he’s doing. That’s the point. Now, Wemby has a lot to go before his basketball career is complete, but as a prospect showing up, we haven’t seen that since probably Hakeem Olajuwon or Bill Walton or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, where you’re like, oh, this big man’s going to come here and destroy the league.”
It’s an argument rooted in basketball logic as much as it is in history. Size and skill together have always been irresistible to teams drafting at the top. Jefferson’s point wasn’t to downplay LeBron’s greatness; he acknowledged that LeBron may have been the number one prospect of his time, but rather to emphasize how rare Wembanyama’s physical and technical profile truly is.
It’s a fascinating hypothetical and one that hits differently now that Victor Wembanyama has begun his third NBA season in a historically dominant fashion. Through three games, the 21-year-old is averaging 33.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 6.0 blocks per game, while shooting 56.9% from the field and 36.4% from three. Those are video-game numbers, blending scoring, rim protection, and perimeter touch in ways the league has never seen before.
In fairness, Jefferson isn’t saying Wembanyama is better than LeBron, only that as a prospect, he would have been drafted ahead of him in most historical contexts. It’s a subtle but significant distinction. When LeBron entered the league in 2003, he was an athletic marvel, a 6’8” forward with guard skills and elite vision. But Wembanyama, standing at 7’4” with guard agility and shooting range, represents an even rarer blend of physical gifts.
Of course, as Jefferson admitted, potential and accomplishment are two different things. LeBron has four MVPs, four titles, and the all-time scoring record. Wemby still has everything to prove. But from a pure prospect standpoint, a blank slate of size, skill, and possibility, Jefferson’s argument carries weight.
