There’s $1 Billion Reason Victor Wembanyama Is The Next LeBron James For NBA

Essentially, when you dribble past the hype, here’s what everybody is saying about the 7-foot-5 teenager with a little of “Pistol Pete” Maravich, a dash of Kevin Durant and all of Victor Wembanyama since that was the name on his birth certificate back home in Le Chesnay, France.

Essentially, they’re saying . . .

Not hundreds, not thousands, not millions.

Think billions with this guy.

Or at least $1 billion.

No question, Wembanyama has yet to see his first NBA minute, but unless everybody is wrong — Stephen Curry said he gives off “cheat-code type of vibes” — he’s got the game (see above and below).

He’s got the charisma (international, national and local cameras filmed his every breath after he landed in New York City this week for Thursday night’s NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn).

He’s also got the marketing (see how he watched batting practice Tuesday at Yankee Stadium wearing unreleased $160 Nike NOCTA Glide shoes, the brainchild of the sneaker folks and music czar Drake).

Before Wembanyama delivered the first pitch prior to the Yankees-Mariners game, he bent so low to clear the dugout roof that his back was nearly parallel with the ground. His right hand swallowed up the baseball, and that ranked among the highlights of the evening. As a result, it didn’t matter he otherwise flopped on Broadway with the worst throw in the history of the pinstripes.

Wembanyama is huge.

Even beyond his size 20 1/2 feet.

In contrast, the ego for this upcoming No. 1 overall NBA draft pick for the San Antonio Spurs is small, which makes him even more attractive for advertisers along the way to his billionaire future in waiting.

“I don’t let this, all this stuff, get into my head because I got such high expectations for myself that I’m immune to all this stuff. So I really don’t care,” Wembanyama told reporters Wednesday in New York during a press conference that featured his tongue moving gracefully between French and English.

To translate: Wembanyama can sell himself with ease in both France and the United States, along with a slew of a places in between and beyond.

He’s more than picks and rolls.

Sounds like Wembanyama also has a lot of LeBron James swirling around his universe. That’s not only because (to continue the analogies for Wembanyama involving current and future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers) this next David Robinson and Tim Duncan for the Spurs is the most discussed NBA prospect since King James left St. Vincent–St. Mary’s in Akron, Ohio in 2003 for the Cavaliers in nearby Cleveland.

Yeah, I know. Zion Williamson surfaced with much fanfare between James and Wembanyama, but he doesn’t count. He already has evolved into the 2019 bust of a No. 1 draft pick for the New Orleans Pelicans due to his inability to stay on the court. He has played just slightly more than a quarter of his four NBA seasons due mostly to weight-related aches and pains.

So back to James.

As long as the hoop gods provide Wembanyama with splendid health and competent tax accountants, he’ll follow James as the second active NBA player to make the billionaires list.

Michael Jordan isn’t in that category. He didn’t reach $1 billion until after he left pro basketball (and pro baseball, for that matter).

Now consider this regarding Wembanyama, the strikingly thin yet highly gifted 19-year-old from Metropolitans 92 of the French basketball league: According to Forbes, six athletes “have transcended the sports they have respectively dominated and become global icons, leading to even more lucrative opportunities outside their fields of play.”

Here are the Forbes’ all-time earnings leaders:

• Tiger Woods ($1.72 billion)
• Cristiano Ronaldo ($1.24 billion)
• LeBron James ($1.16 billion)
• Lionel Messi ($1.15 billion)
• Roger Federer ($1.09 billion)
• Floyd Mayweather ($1.08 billion)

As for a future entry, here’s my guess: He hasn’t even begun to take his pre-billionaire layups for the Spurs.

But Wembanyama will.