The Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series victory earlier this week has put them on the discussion boards for athletes and experts across all sports in the country. Personalities are being compared, with similarities between stars coming to light. At least according to those making the claims. Carmelo Anthony, for instance, sees things in common between the NBA’s demi-god Victor Wembanyama and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani.
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On 7PM in Brooklyn, Anthony’s podcast show, he debated why Wembanyama is basketball’s Ohtani. Addressing those who aren’t regular MLB watchers, the ex-New York Knicks icon insisted that to understand how great Ohtani truly is, it’s important to understand the little things in baseball.
What Ohtani does in a game is much more complex than “pitching” or “hitting home runs”. It’s what separates him from the other great players in the league. And Wembanyama, Anthony feels, is the same when it comes to the NBA. Well, almost.
Anthony noted that Wembanyama, too, excels at those little things that make him an elite athlete. But what he does is much more visible to the average NBA viewer. “The difference with Wemby is, those little sh**, those assists, those steals… we see all of that.”
“We see him pass the ball, we see him hit three, we see him blocking shots that led to dunks, we see everything he do,” Anthony continued. “That’s the big difference. We’ve never seen this type of sh** before.”
Wembanyama truly appears to be an anomaly. He’s 7’4″, but has the handling of a guard. He can block shots for fun, grab rebounds like he’s catching loose change mid-air, and drive the ball to the other end of the court, stop, and shoot a three with ease. The Frenchman could very well be on his way to becoming an all-time great. Plus, he’s only 21 years old.
“He’s gonna do something very single night, that makes you like, ‘Damn’,” Anthony said. “Wemby is different, he’s special.”
Mindset-wise, too, Wembanyama has proved that he’s one of the very best. He got ruled out with a deep vein thrombosis midway through the last season, which destroyed the San Antonio Spurs‘ chances of postseason glory. What did he do? He worked harder than ever in the offseason and returned stronger than ever.
Anthony praised Wembanyama’s “intentionality”, opining, “A lot of guys may be too cool… they wanna do it their way. Not saying that’s the wrong way, but Wemby, being a student of the game… you learning the physical side of the game, touching the mental and spiritual part of the game. You combine all that into one…”
Wembanyama still, of course, has a way to go before matching Ohtani’s legacy. Ohtani dominated in Japan, came to the U.S., won two back-to-back World Series, and has been on the All-Star team five times.
