Considered the best prospect since LeBron James in 2003, Victor Wembanyama faced the King for the very first time last night. A great opportunity to compare Wemby’s start to his career with that of LeBron, especially since there are quite a few similarities despite the two decades that separate them.
On an individual level
- Victor Wembanyama stats after 23 games: 19 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.9 blocks at 43.5% shooting in 30.5 minutes
- LeBron James stats after 23 games: 17.7 points, 6.4 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.2 steals, 40.5% shooting in 40.2 minutes
Both arriving in the NBA with the label of generational prospect, and the enormous pressure that entails, Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James wasted no time in making their mark. In his fifth NBA game (in Phoenix on November 2), Wemby showed off his talent by scoring 38 points (including 10 in the last five minutes) and 10 rebounds to bring San Antonio to victory on Kevin’s home ground. Durant and Devin Booker. 20 years earlier, LeBron James had unleashed a little masterclass in his… first NBA game with 25 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals in Sacramento, against one of the best teams in the League.
Overall, Victor Wembanyama and LeBron James have gotten off to a pretty good start to their careers in the Big League. The first based in particular on his defensive impact, the second on his versatility and his “NBA Ready” physical profile (40 minutes per match, 10 more than Wemby!). But that doesn’t mean they didn’t have some downsides in the first few weeks.
At Wemby, this manifested itself in particular through foul problems and matches with low offensive impact, with evenings where he relied a little too much on an outside shot that was not yet perfect. At the time of these lines, Wembanyama is only averaging 28% 3-point success on five attempts per game. Speaking of outside shooting, it was LeBron’s big weakness when he arrived in the NBA. He already had the athletic qualities to play in the big leagues, but his serious shooting limitations quickly made his life complicated: in his first 23 matches, James remained below the 10-point mark five times, accumulating bricks against to defenses deliberately leaving it open.
In the space of two decades, a lot of things have obviously changed both on and off the basketball court. The NBA game, today much faster, much more offensive and much more focused on 3-point shooting, is radically different from that played in the early 2000s. This is a central element in any comparison, particularly when we talk about individual performances and statistics.
But despite a different profile and context from LeBron James, we can say that Victor Wembanyama is having an early career that resembles that of the King in certain respects. This is all the more true since collectively, we really don’t gain much…
On a collective level
- Spurs’ record after 24 games: 4 wins – 20 losses
- Cavaliers’ record after 24 games: 6 wins – 18 losses
Being a generational prospect doesn’t guarantee you’ll win NBA games. LeBron James discovered it 20 years ago, Victor Wembanyama discovers it today.
In 2003, the King arrived on a Cleveland team that had a season with only 17 victories. The Cavs roster at the time? It included Darius Miles, Ricky Davis, Carlos Boozer and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. There’s a little talent, but collectively we weren’t far from nothing. Above all, it was missing a real playmaker and it was LeBron who had to take this role at only 18 years old. Obviously it was a little complicated: 18 defeats in 24 matches, with a place in the bottom of the East.
For Victor today, it’s the same problem. If his Spurs beat LeBron’s Lakers last night, they were still on a terrible streak of 18 consecutive defeats. San Antonio is a young and rebuilding team, where learning comes before results. The presence of Wembanyama does not prevent the Spurs from getting smashed on both sides of the field (28th attack, 24th defense) and from occupying last place in the West with 20 defeats in 24 games.
Source: ClutchPoints
A leader and position problem
As mentioned above, LeBron James began his NBA career as a playmaker. All at just 18 years old. If he always had the vision and basketball IQ to guide an attack, it’s quite a task for a young kid just out of high school. And inevitably, as prodigious as he is, LeBron struggled in this role of responsibility: in the first weeks of the 2003-04 season, he was one of the players with the most lost balls. He wasn’t helped either by certain teammates – hello Darius Miles, hello Ricky Davis – who didn’t really appreciate being in the shadow of a young 18-year-old star.
What helped LeBron, however, was when Cleveland brought veterans into the locker room, notably leader Jeff McInnis. The latter became the starter on position 1 from January 2004, thus shifting LeBron to the outside (back/winger) where the young King quickly proved more comfortable. James shot more than 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists on 42% shooting in the second part of his rookie season.
Among the Spurs at the start of the season, the question of the leader quickly became a central subject. While Tre Jones seemed sufficiently equipped to hold the position, San Antonio preferred to try the Jeremy Sochan experiment. An inconclusive experience, Sochan struggling quite a bit in learning this role. As a result, the Spurs attack had neither tail nor head and the defeats began to follow one another. This didn’t help Victor Wembanyama, who had a lot of freedom to express himself but no real structure to shine. Despite the solid performances of Tre Jones coming off the bench (and the latter’s good relationship with Wemby), Gregg Popovich still refuses to start him (it is now Malaki Branham who starts with Devin Vassell on the backcourt), as s he wanted to avoid winning too many games in the current rebuilding project.
What Pop did, on the other hand, was position Victor Wembanyama in position 5. Wemby had started the season as a power forward alongside pivot Zach Collins, to avoid having to directly deal with the baobabs of the NBA rackets. The results were mixed because Victor was too often far from the circle, and that’s not great for a 2m24 giant. For four matches? Things are different: 20 points (45% shooting), more than 16 rebounds and 4 blocks on average for Vic the pivot, suffice to say that it is her job. And it is undoubtedly in this position that the Spurs will succeed in maximizing his potential in the future.
A big competitor in the race for ROY
With the huge hype surrounding LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama upon their arrival in the NBA, they were both logical favorites to win the Rookie of the Year title before their first game in the NBA.
LeBron ended up winning it at the end of the 2003-04 season but some still think that a certain Carmelo Anthony deserved it more than him. And for good reason: Melo shone individually (21 points and 6 rebounds on average) while helping his Denver team qualify for the Playoffs. During the first weeks of competition, Anthony had also taken a step ahead of the King thanks in particular to his contribution to the surprising results of the Nuggets (14 victories – 9 defeats).
Hey, doesn’t that remind you of anything? 20 years later, Victor Wembanyama seems to be a little behind Chet Holmgren in the race for ROY. If Wemby shines individually, he does not have the collective results of Chet, who participated in the Thunder’s excellent start to the season (15 victories – 8 defeats) by playing basketball as efficient as it is impressive (17 points, 8 rebounds, 2 .4 average blocks at 52% shooting, 37% 3-point shooting and 88% shooting).
Like Carmelo Anthony, who was surrounded by good veterans in Denver from his start (unlike James), Holmgren is on a much more competent team than Wembanyama today. And that works in his favor. Another thing that could represent an advantage for number 2 in the 2022 Draft: he already has an NBA year behind him, even if he did not play last year due to injury. This year of experience can help, as Melo’s 2003 college season (with an NCAA title at the end) may have helped Anthony adapt to the NBA more quickly compared to James.
In many ways, Victor Wembanyama’s early career is comparable to that of LeBron James. We now wish him to experience a rise similar to that of the King, because that would mean that Wemby will quickly integrate the elite of the NBA.
Text sources: ESPN, Basket-Reference, NBA.com