NBA has seen the future and it is Wembanyama

They say a couple of days in Las Vegas can change a person’s life, and you should hear the NBA scouts, executives and players who witnessed this past week’s two-day showcase of the future.

They didn’t lose at the casinos. They lost their collective minds.

This was the United States debut of 18-year-old Victor Wembanyama, rumored to be the most intriguing big-man prospect in modern history. Playing before lively crowds at the Dollar Loan Center, new home of the NBA’s G League Ignite, Wembanyama was in town with Metropolitans 92, his French League team. Suffice it to say that the center put on a show that turned every rumor to dreamlike truth.

If anything, he surpassed expectations. And what made the games ridiculously special was that Scoot Henderson, believed to be the second coming of Ja Morant, is the G League Ignite’s showcase player and ranked No. 2 on every mock forecast for next year’s NBA draft.

Henderson bumped knees with his now and future rival in the first quarter of Thursday’s game and did not return, so the takeaway focus was primarily on Wembanyama, who racked up 37 points and five blocked shots Tuesday night and followed up with 36 and four.

First order of business in the aftermath: Let’s get an official height measurement of this teenager, with his shoes off, and make sure the occasion is nationally televised. Various outlets this week have listed his height at 7-foot-2, 7-3, 7-4 and (by ESPN) 7-5.

To which LeBron James says, whatever. “Everybody’s been a ‘unicorn’ over the last few but he’s more like an alien,” James said on Wednesday. “No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is. With his ability to put the ball on the floor, shoot step-back jumpers out of the post, stepback 3s, catch-and-shoot 3s, block shots, he’s for sure a generational talent.”

There’s a joke around NBA circles that the Warriors, Bucks, Nets and other teams with title aspirations should just forget all that and give up on the season, hoping to land that No. 1 pick. But tanking a very realistic path for such teams as Houston (said to be in the best position as far as draft picks currently held), Indiana, San Antonio, Oklahoma City and any other teams whose opening-night dreams turn sour. (By rules of the draft lottery, the three worst-record teams in the league each have a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick.)

For such teams as New Orleans, Cleveland, Atlanta and the Lakers, sneaking into the playin tournament could lead to a surprising run through the playoffs. For the downtrodden, though, the play-in berth suddenly holds zero appeal. That’s a no-man’s land between “no chance” and “no Victor.”

He was born and raised in France, where he will return for one more season with the Parisbased Metropolitans. His father, Felix, is of Congolese descent and a former triple-jump specialist who stands 6-5. His French mother, Elodie de Fauterau, is 6-2 and has a basketball background as a player and coach (to kids around 10 and younger). Victor said he never trained with his mom, and although he initially focused on track, the basketball court was too great a temptation.

Last summer, during the FIBA Under-19 World Cup tournament in Latvia, Wembanyama found himself facing off against Chet Holmgren, the gifted 7-foot center who will miss the upcoming NBA season (with Oklahoma City) in the wake of surgery on his right foot. Holmgren’s U.S. team won the title, but Wembanyama was dominant in every category.

“I don’t really give too many people credit, but I give it to this guy right here,” Holmgren said afterward. “I thought I was tall, I thought I had long arms, but he takes it to a whole other level. He moves great. He’s got a shot. He’s got skills, too. He’s gonna be a rich man one day.”

Wembanyama is also an extremely thin man, like Holmgren, and the two of them will be severely tested by the NBA’s relentless physicality over the years. For now, so early in the game, observers can only marvel.

The “phenom” center is a longstanding tradition. You see them coming years ahead of time — Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ralph Sampson, Arvydas Sabonis, Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming — and all of those players arrived in the NBA as advertised. There has yet to be a center, though, with Wembanyama’s combination of length, coordination, touch and offensive skills including crossover dribbles, drop-step spin moves and a gifted left hand.

As recently as August, a scouting report on SI.com suggested “his 3-point shot still needs a lot of work.” Well, to see him this past week, it really doesn’t. That shot is nice, basically an uncontestable jumper with a fluid release and breezycomfortable from all over the floor (7-for-11 from 3-point range Tuesday night).

Without question, the kid has to gain some weight. He needs to shed an injury-prone reputation, avoid a propensity for foul trouble and display more ferocity as a rebounder. For now, the question is what to call him. Giannis Antetokounmpo quickly became a first-name star, but “Victor” seems a bit bland. “Wemby,” which he uses as his Twitter handle, has gained some traction. Perhaps someone will shout “Yama!” and that takes over.

Just call him the future, and you’re on pretty safe ground.

Of the stars

No intent here to sell Henderson short; he’s worth a column of his own. Also 18, from a Marietta, Ga., high school, he’s very much like Morant with his speed, explosiveness, unlimited potential and a showman’s thirst for telling people all about it. He’s no consolation prize if he goes No. 2. Uncommonly brilliant with his court vision and decision-making, already polished at every known skill, he could be the NBA’s best point guard by his early 20s. … Sabrina Ionescu got a raw deal at the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Australia. Head coach Cheryl Reeve essentially turned her into a scrub, lucky to see any significant court time, and although she handled it like a champ, especially during the championship celebration, Ionescu had to feel insulted. Reeve did have her priorities straight; international experience and WNBA reputations clearly dictated that Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, Jewell Loyd and Kahleah Copper deserved the most backcourt time. But there wasn’t one second of drama during the team’s eight games. Ionescu is a full-fledged star, prominent in the WNBA’s marketing strategy and a compelling entertainer. You don’t treat her like some garbage-time afterthought. I’ll guarantee you this: Tara VanDerveer or Dawn Staley, each of whom has coached Team USA, would have handled it better. … There’s justice in the world when Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper gets nominated for the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 2023 Ford C. Frick Award. He’s the best play-byplay man ever to have played in the big leagues. Among the 10 finalists, only one other name resonates in this corner: Gary Cohen (not an ex-player), who shines on the Mets’ TV broadcasts. But this is Kuiper’s time — and in a perfect world, he and Mike Krukow would be enshrined together.