New basketball players surpassing LeBron James to enter NBA

“Alien” Victor Wembanyama will make his official NBA debut. Wednesday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets will officially kick off the 2023-2024 NBA season. However, fans’ attention is focused on the San Antonio Spurs’ home game on Thursday, where Vumbanyama will make his NBA debut against the Dallas Mavericks. The Dallas Mavericks have Luka Doncic from Slovenia in Europe, who entered the NBA before Wembanyama.

Winbanyama, who was born in the suburbs of Paris in 2004, ranked first in the French Professional Basketball League in scoring (21.6 points), rebounds (10.4 rebounds) and blocks (3.0 blocks) per game last year. season and was elected the youngest MVP in league history. Subsequently, he became the most popular rookie player in this June’s NBA draft. Before being selected as an NBA player, he received a lot of attention and was even invited by the New York Yankees of the Major League Baseball.

The French basketball player is much taller than the average center, with a height of 224 cm. However, he possesses the speed, reflexes and agility of a defender, earning him the nickname “The Paradigm Shifter.”

Wembunyama averaged 19.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game in exhibition games, proving why he is considered to have the “skills of the century.” Although his average playing time (20 minutes and 54 seconds) is less than 48 minutes of total game time, he has the highest score among centers and the highest number of blocks among all players.

In particular, Vunbanyama performed well against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, his final exhibition game. Videos of him blocking two shots in the first quarter and launching quick-attack dunks or three-pointers for a total of nine points have been viewed more than 300,000 times on YouTube. “Wemba Yama displayed skill and scale unparalleled in NBA history in just 90 seconds,” CBS Sports reported. “He can be a complete player.”

Kim Bae JungWanted@donga.com