‘Like nobody we’ve ever seen before’: Terrifying revelation about 19yo NBA ‘alien’

French teenager Victor Wembanyama is seen as the best young player in a generation and is all but certain to be selected with the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

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The 19-year-old is playing for Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 in France’s Pro A League, and turned heads in an exhibition game in October against expected No. 2 pick Scoot Henderson’s G League Ignite.

With his lanky physique, Wembanyama has been described as a taller version of Kevin Durant who can block shots for fun.

He officially stands 7’4” (224 cm) tall but according to ESPN, Wembanyama is now 7’5” (226cm) with shoes on, with a wingspan of eight feet (243cm) – and the scariest part is he’s still growing.

That makes Wembanyama taller than Durant (208cm) and Lakers legend O’Neal (216m), who dominated the NBA in the early 2000s.

And if Wembanyama was to join the NBA today, he would immediately become the league’s tallest player, ahead of the likes of Houston’s Boban Marjanovic (224cm), Washington’s Kristaps Porzingis (221cm) and Boston’s Luke Kornet (218cm).

Shaquille O’Neal dominated the game at 216cm.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst believes Wembanyama’s height and athleticism will make him an unstoppable force once he joins the NBA in his rookie season.

“This is a different prospect to what we’ve ever seen before, especially coming out of Europe,” he said on the Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective podcast.

“His shooting form is textbook.

“This guy is so serious about being great. I don’t know if if will be. There’s no such thing as a ‘can’t miss’ prospect, but he is doing everything in his power to be great from day one.

“I think from day one in the NBA, he will be a dominating defensive force. He will alter shots like nobody we’ve ever seen before. From day one, teams will have to game plan for dealing with him defensively.

“Wenbamyama isn’t even like LeBron 2.0. It’s like LeBron 3.0. It’s a completely different situation.

“You’re going to be alarmed at how thin he is. He’s listed at 230 pounds (104kg), he is 7-foot-4-ish, 7 foot 5. He looks very slight. He doesn’t look he has much bulk. He looks like he could get knocked over by a stiff breeze.”

Boulogne-Levallois’ French power forward Victor Wembanyama is set to change the NBA. (Photo by AFP)

LeBron James has described Wembanya as a “generational talent” and an “alien”.

“Everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien,” LeBron said.

“No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is out on the floor. He’s a generational talent and hopefully he continues to stay healthy.”

Wembanya has also drawn high praise from Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“The way his skills are, the way he could shoot the ball, the way he can move, he’s extremely fast for his size, can block shots, can be a threat on the offensive end, he’s unbelievable,” the Greek Freak said.

“We have never seen something like that before. I think it’s a good challenge for everybody around the league, to have somebody that’s 7’2” be able to shoot, dribble like he’s a guard, to block shots, to run down the door fast. We got to get ready for this kid. He’s going to be really good.”

The Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets appear best placed to land Wembanyama if they land the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery.

Those four teams all have less than 20 wins with a quarter of the NBA season remaining.