Lakers News: 2000 Champ Unpacks Victor Wembanyama Comps To Prior Top LA Draft Picks

The San Antonio Spurs' prized No. 1 draft pick, ex-Metropolitans 92 power forward/center Victor Wembanyama, is perhaps the most-hyped top draftee since Los Angeles Lakers small forward LeBron James was picked first overall straight out of high school in 2003. Another LA legend, 7'2" center Kareem Abdul Jabbar, was perhaps the previously most anticipated draft pick when he was selected first out of UCLA in 1969 by the Milwaukee Bucks.

Will Victor Wembanyama become a 19-time All-Star, like these two LA legends? That might be a wholly unfair expectation to place on this prospect, but clearly he does have the talent to number among the game's all-time greats.

Four-time NBA champion big man John Salley, who won titles with the Detroit Pistons (once at the expense of LA, in 1989), Chicago Bulls, and Lakers, spoke at length about the 7'4" big man on the cusp of his rookie NBA season, during a new YouTube interview on Scoop B Selects with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson.

"Oh yeah I’m a fan! And this is why: I’m a fan because he’s coming in from France. I’m a fan because he’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s height; nowhere close to the talent of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s talent however, but some of his skill sets are that of a shorter fella," Salley said. "So the fact that he can build on to it and he got here early to do it changes everything.

When asked by Robinson if he felt Wembanyama had gotten as much pre-draft hype as James had in his day, Salley was frank.

"No. I only see… and LeBron was an incredible phenom and I literally apologized to LeBron because I thought that [eventual No. 3 pick] Carmelo Anthony should have been the No. 1 pick and I love Carmelo but LeBron proved to be The King and I was like, Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Maybe I should’ve waited and saw him [LeBron]… but when I see a guy like Victor, I start thinking once he gets stronger -- because everybody wanted me to get more muscle and my muscle is narrow and thin like the rope of a bridge. That’s what I used to tell ‘em like, You don’t see no big fat ropes on a bridge, you see thin… so I think once his body develops into this lifestyle of America -- plus everybody has to pay attention that this kid is a KID. And he’s going to be thrown up against everything. So I am really going to look for him and he's in the right place being down there with [Spurs head coach Gregg] Popovich too."

Salley, of course, made his thin, long frame work for him. He spent 11 years in the league, mostly as a reserve. Across 748 regular season contests, the 6'11" Georgia Tech product posted averages of 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, 1.2 assists and 0.6 steals per bout.

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