With LeBron James and Steph Curry on the back end of their respective NBA careers, Victor Wembanyama is set to be the future face of the league.
The 7-foot-3 phenom continues to amaze the sports world with his unreal ability in just his second season, and the sky is the limit for the 21-year-old French big man. Regardless of his unmatched physique, Warriors veteran forward Draymond Green doesn't see Wembanyama having the same kind of impact as Curry has over the last two decades.
"I think hell no. There's a zero percent chance Wemby's impact can be the same or even remotely close to Steph's," Green said on "The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis." "Here's why: Wemby is as special of a player as we've seen come possibly in the history of the NBA, and that's why he can't have that impact. Because you just can't just be [7-foot-3], however tall he is, nobody's just going to be [7-foot-3] and want to do what Wemby do. One of the reasons Steph has had such a large impact on the game that he has is because he looks like he's everybody's size.
"Because he looks like he's everybody's size, everybody thinks, 'I can be Steph. Because regardless of how athletic I am, I can learn to shoot the ball. And if I can learn to shoot the lights out the ball and I can run all day and I can work on my handles, I can be Steph.' The reality is, what they failed to realize is, no you can't. His shot is god-given with a god-given work ethic that is topped by maybe two people ever.
" ... I say all that to say, no. I just don't think people are going to see Wemby and think, 'Oh, I can be that.' "
Curry's height, at 6-foot-2, along with his journey to get to where he is now after being overlooked as a skinny college kid, is a bit more relatable than a 7-foot-3 Wembanyama.
Golden State Warriors
What might not be as relatable, as Green attested to, is the way Curry changed the game with his elite 3-point shooting. A career 42.5-percent 3-point shooter, Curry's ability to shoot at a high volume for so long is something that likely won't ever be matched.
In Year 16, Curry is averaging 22.8 points on 45.5-percent shooting from the field and 42.3 percent from beyond the arc, with 4.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 29 games.
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Meanwhile, Wembanyama is averaging 25.1 points on 47.9-percent shooting from the field and 35.4 percent from deep, with 10.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists in his second season with the San Antonio Spurs.
Curry soon will be passing the torch to Wembanyama, whose impact on and off the court has sky-high potential.
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