EXCLSUIVE: Victor Wembanyama is mobbed by fans at JFK Airport as he touches down in New York
Victor Wembanyama touched down at JFK Airport Monday in New York City ahead of Thursday's NBA Draft to something of a circus.
It is widely accepted as fact that the 7-foot-4 sensation will be taken No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs when the card is read out at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
In video exclusively obtained by Mail Sport, Wembanyama admitted he's excited to be in the Big Apple.
'I've been waiting for this moment for a long time,' the French phenom said, via Adam Glyn.
The young Frenchman is the biggest NBA Draft prize in more than a decade. Dubbed a 'generational talent' by none other than LeBron James, Wembanyama is athletic, skilled, enormous, and still only 19.
Victor Wembanyama was spotted at JFK airport in New York City ahead of Thursday's draft
After arriving from his native France, the 7-foot-4 hooper was mobbed by autograph hunters
The San Antonio Spurs are near certain to take the most prized player since LeBron James
At 7-foot-4, with the ball-handling and shooting skills of a guard, Victor Wembanyama is considered a generational talent and the biggest NBA Draft Lottery prize in a generation
The Frenchman alongside 6-foot-2 Scoot Henderson (right), the likely No. 2 overall draft pick
Wembanyama has been pictured with various celebrities, including France's Kylian Mbappe
Wembanyama will be drafted precisely two decades on from when James was taken by his hometown organization, the Cleveland Cavaliers, in 2003. He has received praise for all corners of the globe in recent months - and perhaps none greater than from James's former teammate, Richard Jefferson.
'If LeBron James at that exact moment showed up, Victor would go higher than him,' Jefferson, a former teammate of James, said during an October airing of NBA Today.
'LeBron James, and all the things that we saw -- and I'm not saying he's going to be better than LeBron James -- what I'm saying is right now, I remember LeBron James 20 years ago.
'That player was six-foot-seven, this person is seven-[foot]-four. LeBron James would be number two if he has the exact same age in the exact same draft, LeBron James would be number two. That's how crazy this kid is as a prospect.'
The 19-year-old will play in the NBA's Summer League this July after previous reporting said the French phenom would skip the event.
Wembanyama just wrapped up the LNB Pro A championship series, where his Metropolitans 92 squad were swept in a best-of-five series vs. Monaco.
Notwithstanding the hype surrounding Wembanyama and the struggling Spurs, Charles Barkley has suggested their growth could be slower than thought.
'This notion that just because you have all this hype and you've been kicking a** in France all these years,' he said on Sirius XM's NBA Radio last month. 'That don't mean nothing when you step on the court next year.
'The Spurs ain't close to winning a championship, young fella!' said the former 76ers, Suns and Rockets forward. Y'all probably ain't gonna make the playoffs next year!'
Source: Daily Mail
