Victor Wembanyama: To be or not to be?

If you remotely follow the NBA, the title itself sounds ludicrous. Victor Wembanyama has been hailed by analysts and players alike to be the GOAT of basketball. He is (quite literally) heralded to be the man, the myth, the legend. The expectations on him are sky high, and anything less than top 10 all-time has the potential to be looked at as a failure. 

I wonder what the basis for this is. He is 7' 3.5'' and can handle the ball like a guard and can shoot the three. That's it. Sure the argument can then be made, well what else does he need to do? 

At his height, Victor Wembanyama can shoot over everybody in the league without even noticing their contest. His length makes him an elite shot blocker, and his ball-handling means that he can be the fulcrum of the offense. 

His ability to shoot the 3-pointer (perceived ability considering he shot 30% in 2022-23) and the way he moves suggest that Victor Wembanyama can operate as a 1-man offense, something we last saw in Cleveland by one Lebron James. We have never seen anything like this, and this is why he is basketball's one true unicorn. 

Except for his weight. He is listed at 209 lbs on basketballreference.com. For context, Jayson Tatum is 6ft 8in and weighed 210 lbs in the 2022-23 regular season. The height difference between the two players is 7.5 inches, and yet Victor weighs 1 pound less. The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a calculator that tells you the weight category that you fall in in comparison to your height. Victor's BMI is 19.2, meaning that he is of normal weight. However, the table below gives us a BMI measure of the centers that he will play with.

Fadeaway World ranked all centers after the 2022-23 regular season. The expectation for Wembanyama is to be a top-10 center the moment he enters the league. All the official measurements of the top 10 centers for this past season are in the table below.

Player	Height	Weight (lbs)	BMI
Nikola Jokic	6ft 11in	284	29
Joel Embiid	7ft	280	27.9
Domantas Sabonis	7ft 1in	240	23.4
Bam Adebayo	6ft 9in	255	27.3
Anthony Davis	6ft 10in	253	26.5
Deandre Ayton	7ft	250	24.9
Myles Turner	6ft 11in	250	25.5
Nic Claxton	6ft 11in	215	21.9
Brook Lopez	7ft 1in	282	27.4
Nikola Vucevic	6ft 10in	260	27.2

All of them weigh more than Wembanyama. Scratch that. Barring Nicolas Claxton every other center has at least 40 pounds on Victor. That puts him at a severe disadvantage already. When thinking of the league as a whole, Victor would rank as the 315-325th lightest player in the league (out of 539). The average player is about 216 lbs. Victor Wembanyama weighs less than the average NBA player. Yes, he's taller so it's easier to rebound, but smaller players stronger than him can box him out, pushing him away from the rim on both ends. Throwing bodies at him can limit his offensive production, and his defense can be questioned when Joel Embiid/Giannis go at his chest every single play of the game. If Victor never plans on adding muscle, there is a strong possibility that injuries can constantly plague him. 

When thinking of Webmenyama, I can think of three players similar to him (last 10 years).

Chet Holmgren

Joel Embiid

Kristpaps Porzingis

Below are the official measurements when they were drafted.

Name	Age (drafted)	Height	Weight	BMI
Joel Embiid	20	7ft	250 lbs	24.9
Chet Holmgren	20	7ft	195 lbs	19.4
Kristaps Porzingis	19	7ft 1in	230 lbs	22.4

Joel Embiid missed two complete seasons before even playing a game in the NBA. Since then, durability has constantly plagued him. He averages around 56-57 games a season (though he has gotten better with time. 68 games in 2021-22, 66 in 2022-23). 

Chet Holmgren missed last season with a foot injury he suffered during a summer Pro-Am game. He has since put on 13 lbs and is currently 7ft 1in and 208 lbs. His BMI comes out to be 20.2.

Porzingis exceeded the 65-game threshold for his first two years in the league and the 2022-23 regular season. From 2017-18 to 2021-22, he played 199 games out of 311. He played around 64% of the team's games, an abysmal record.

Now, there is a chance Victor is just that good, and the difference in weight will not affect him. There are positive sides to look at. His second game in the summer league showed us that he has the potential to be a real threat in this league. He is young enough to add muscle as time goes on. Once the three-pointer falls consistently, nobody can stop him. He has all the tools needed. Can he figure out how to mesh them together?