Spurs' Victor Wembanyama 'Hopes to Be Better Than Shawn Bradley,' Says NBA Bust

Victor Wembanyama has high expectations for the San Antonio Spurs, but NBA veteran Olden Polynice believes he won't get even close to hitting them.

Jeremy Brener | Jul 24, 2023

Spurs' Victor Wembanyama 'Hopes to Be Better Than Shawn Bradley,' Says NBA Bust /

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San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama is coming into the NBA with all of the expectations in the world ... but not everyone is believing in the hype.

Shortly after Tim Hardaway Sr. said that NBA journeyman Bol Bol is better than the No. 1 overall pick, Olden Polynice agreed with the assessment, failing to believe in all the Wemby hype.

"He hopes to be better than Shawn Bradley in my opinion. I'm serious," Polynice said on Fox Sports Radio. "I'm not even putting him in the Yao Ming category right now... Guy like that they're over 7-5 and just shot blockers. He's going to try to do all the stuff he was doing overseas. It's going to be very difficult for him to do in the NBA."

Bradley, like Wembanyama, came into the league with high expectations as one of the NBA's tallest players ever, but height proved not to be everything. Bradley had a serviceable 12-year career in the NBA, but he never lived up to his pre-draft expectations.

Polynice had a solid 15-year career in the NBA, but his career has been defined by the fact that he was traded for Hall-of-Famer Scottie Pippen in the 1987 draft.

There hasn't been many players, if any, that are quite like Wembanyama though.

Polynice has a point, he isn't going to be able to copy/paste his game from France to the NBA right away. There will be a learning curve, but his potential far exceeds what Bradley's career ended up being in the league.

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Published Jul 24, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.