UCLA Basketball: Best Bruin Hooper Ever Weighs In On How Top NBA Rookie Prospect Will Adjust To Pros

He would know.

San Antonio Spurs rookie power forward/center Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft out of French pro club Metropolitans 92, is one of the most highly-touted pro prospects in the history of the NBA draft. A defense-first big man with the handle and shooting of a guard, the 7'4" superstar-in-training seems poised to be one of the league's leading lights.

Eventually.

One of the few people in the world who has dealt with a similar level of hype heading into the league has now weighed in, and he doesn't think the transition will happen overnight.

The best player in UCLA Bruins basketball history, Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, recently chatted with Justin Termine and Jason Jackson of SiriusXM NBA Radio at this year's NBA Summer League in Las Vegas about Wembanyama's immediate and long-term futures.

How will Victor Wembanyama adjust to the NBA?@kaj33 shared his insight with @TermineRadio & @TheJaxShow at NBA Summer League. pic.twitter.com/Uapg4kL9UK

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) July 8, 2023

"He really hasn't matured yet," Abdul-Jabbar said. "And what he might go through in this next year or two will probably give him that type of maturity and enable him to understand our game the way it's played and make whatever physical adjustments he can make. We all have to make those adjustments [at the next level]."

Then still Lew Alcindor, Abdul-Jabbar won three NCAA titles while with UCLA. Across his 88 college contests, the 7'2" big man averaged 26.4 points on 63.9% shooting from the floor and 15.5 rebounds. During his collegiate tenure, he was a three-time AP Player of the Year, a three-time consensus All-American, a three-time All-Pac-12 honoree, a three-time NCAA All-Tourney and All-Region selection, and the winner of the Naismith Award.

And that's just his college accolades.