Victor Wembanyama has been as hyped up a prospect as absolutely anybody in NBA history. And that includes LeBron James, arguably the greatest player to ever pick up a basketball. Yet, in some ways, all the hoopla couldn’t be more justified.
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The 19-year-old stands at a ridiculous 7’5”, but has the dexterity and fluidity of a guard. He has also been playing pro basketball since he was about 15 years old. So, really what’s not to like about this young man?
As it turns out, that list runs longer than you’d think. And as former NBA player Nate Robinson pointed out on Instagram recently, it could turn out to be a lot more worrying than expected.
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Nate Robinson says Victor Wembanyama’s lack of size could present a major problem in the NBA
Victor Wembanyama’s height may be beyond advantageous, but his weight is beyond worrying. You see, the average weight of someone as tall as 7 feet in the NBA is about 216 pounds, while Victor weighs in at 230 lbs.
That may seem nice enough at first. But the fact of the matter is, the young man stands at 5 inches higher than 7 feet. This means he doesn’t have nearly enough meat over his bones, leading to a highly skinny figure.
And it is that reason the man finds himself on the wrong end of highlights such as the one in the Instagram post below.
View this post on Instagram
Despite standing at just 5’9”. Nate Robinson played 11 seasons in the NBA. So, the man knows a thing or two about the kind of body needed to last in the league.
And after looking at this lowlight of the French prospect, this was his rather pessimistic reaction. Take a look at the tweet here.
@nate_robinson does not approve of Victor Wembanyama just yet 💀💀 pic.twitter.com/jvh2zvkvGm
— Tonoy Sengupta (@TonoySengupta) February 25, 2023
Of course, hope isn’t lost here. After all, here is how a certain other international star came into the NBA draft in 2013.
Giannis Antetokounmpo #NbaVote #MVP #allstar #captain @Giannis_An34 When in #Filathlitikos @Bucks
Example of transformation body ➡️ #beast pic.twitter.com/pI9LvgEuzF— Christos Papathomas (@chris_pap10) January 14, 2018
However, things need to change fast. Otherwise, he may see himself confined to a different lanky star’s fate before his rookie season even begins.
LeBron James and Chet Holmgren present a scary perspective on how things could turn out for Victor Wembanyama
Chet Holmgren was drafted during the 2022 NBA draft and currently stands at 7 feet, weighing 195 lbs. If you may not know who that is, he is the same guy that did this to Steph Curry years before he was drafted.
CHET HOLMGREN COM 16 ANOS DANDO UMAS AULAS PRA UM TAL STEPHEN CURRY 🥵 pic.twitter.com/lupkKpWgw9
— MANO DE OKC (@thundaodamassa) June 24, 2022
Needless to say, the hype ahead of his time in the NBA was at an all-time high. And yet, during a meaningless Pro-Am game against LeBron James, here is what happened.
Here’s the play where Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren suffered the season-ending injury guarding LeBron James this past weekend: pic.twitter.com/Kua6fL57dn
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) August 25, 2022
This was later diagnosed as a Lisfranc injury, referring to damage to his ligaments in the right foot. This is an example Victor Wembanyama needs to learn from since he and Holmgren are of similar proportions. If he can’t do so, he might see his NBA career being far shorter than what anybody in the world could anticipate.