NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a nuclear take on the sports world on Tuesday that went viral and spun heads everywhere. Woj and the NBA crew held court at their desk as ESPN is set to present the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday night. The big prize in the 2023 NBA Draft is super-prospect Victor Wembanyama. And Woj had seen enough.
“This is the most highly-anticipated player to ever enter the NBA,” Woj said. “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."
—@wojespn on Victor Wembanyama 😳 (via NBA Today) pic.twitter.com/LNuOG2RdHR
— ESPN (@espn) May 16, 2023
There’s high praise, really high praise, and then there’s all of this. Wembanyama has gained quite a lot of hype as the NBA Draft draws closer and closer. He is presumed to be the No. 1 overall pick and figures to be a generational prospect.
However, the high praise from Woj was met with backlash from fans and onlookers.
Many brought a name into the discussion: LeBron James.
Lol no. https://t.co/9XYHSd5eiy pic.twitter.com/GqvX2ZZrbp
— Jason Hall (@JasonHall__) May 16, 2023
LeBron James was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was called "The Chosen One" when he was, like, 16 years old. https://t.co/fXX7L2LnuH
— Marcus S., A Child of the Internet (Yankees 10-3) (@goodwillfiction) May 16, 2023
Come on now. LeBron was a better prospect AND highly anticipated. They played his high school games on ESPN and this was before social media exploded, etc https://t.co/HEb6OLoGY3
— Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) May 16, 2023
Oh they must not have watched tv or anything when Lebron was coming to the league… https://t.co/7WpbqIC1Wx
— Shaun 🔔 (@CoachShaunBell) May 16, 2023
Bro…. LeBron… like nvm https://t.co/kWbQxeEb7t
— CornellG (@CornellGunter_) May 16, 2023
https://twitter.com/genius_droy/status/1658556700939505683
Others were quick to remark about the pressure this puts on Wembanyama.
This kind of pressure is crazy, he gotta win a ring NEXT YEAR https://t.co/oDPYh1Ngkk
— Hudhaifa (@HUDZ_1) May 16, 2023
No pressure. Lol https://t.co/CCwzXik3gf
— BEEZY GARNER (@Burke_Franklin_) May 16, 2023
That’s a lot of pressure to put on a kid. Yikes! https://t.co/ScLLToc4Jj
— Brock Moors (@BrockMoors) May 16, 2023
Another thinks that we probably jumped the shark and went too far here.
https://twitter.com/BlazersBySagar/status/1658554866539851776
The hype around Wembanyama will be ridiculous. However, it’s pretty clear that the hype around LeBron James 20 years ago was stark and striking. And that was before all of social media and streaming, too.
Nevertheless, if going viral on the day of the NBA Draft Lottery was the goal, they certainly accomplished that. The video has fetched over 3 million views.
[ESPN]
