NBA Legend James Worthy Praises Victor Wembanyama's Unprecedented Impact

Victor Wembanyama led the San Antonio Spurs to the 2026 NBA Finals behind some historic play in his debut postseason campaign.

The 22-year-old generational superstar took down the reigning-champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, earning unanimous MVP honors for the seven-game series. Now, he and his young Spurs squad face off against the New York Knicks in a highly-anticipated championship series.

Just hours before tipoff of Game 1 on Wednesday, NBA legend James Worthy gushed about Wembanyama as an unprecedented basketball talent.

“Wemby, I’ve never seen a young player like him,” Worthy said on the “Road Trippin’ Show” with Kendrick Perkins and Richard Jefferson. “Extremely disciplined. He reminds me of Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]. … He’s a Steph Curry shooter with Kobe Bryant agility and has Wilt Chamberlain and Nate Thurmond ferocity.

“He’s just an amazing guy. He’s young, he’s verbal, he’s leading. I don’t think we’ve seen anything like him.”

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Wembanyama averaged 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game through his first 17 career playoff contests. He put up some historic stat lines en route to the NBA Finals, including a 12-block game against the Minnesota Timberwolves and a 41-point, 24-rebound performance in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

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Game 1 of the NBA Finals will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET from San Antonio’s Frost Bank Center on Wednesday.

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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 1:44 PM.