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ESPN NBA Insider Had Ridiculously High Praise For Victor Wembanyama Before NBA Draft Lottery
Tuesday night's NBA draft lottery is as anticipated as any in the event’s history, mostly due to the sweepstakes for French sensation Victor Wembanyama at the top of the 2023 draft class.
Wembanyama, who is widely expected to go No. 1 overall in June’s NBA draft regardless of who winds up owning the pick, has had all kinds of praise heaped on him lately. Many have called Wembanyama the greatest NBA prospect since LeBron James entered the league in 2003.
On Tuesday’s NBA Today on ESPN, NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski went even further in his praise of the 7'4" Wembanyama.
“This is the most highly-anticipated player to ever enter the NBA,” Wojnarowski said. “This is maybe not only the greatest prospect in the NBA’s history, [he’s] maybe the greatest prospect in the history of team sports."
"This is the most highly-anticipated player to ever enter the NBA. ... Maybe the greatest prospect in the history of team sports."
— ESPN (@espn) May 16, 2023
—@wojespn on Victor Wembanyama 😳 (via NBA Today) pic.twitter.com/LNuOG2RdHR
That’s quite the praise for Wembanyama, who will find out his likely NBA destination based on which lucky team wins tonight’s lottery.
Still, some fans questioned whether Wojnarowski’s comments were a bit too hyperbolic.
Kevin Sweeney is a staff writer at Sports Illustrated covering college basketball and the NBA draft. He joined the SI staff in July 2021 and also serves host and analyst for The Field of 68. Sweeney is a Naismith Trophy voter and ia member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.