How Victor Wembanyama’s NBA start compares to LeBron James and Michael Jordan – but stats could be misleading
Victor Wembanyama arrived to the NBA with a level of fanfare not seen in decades.
Michael Jordan and LeBron James are perhaps the only two other players in NBA history to have experienced that level of scrutiny from the get-go.
There’s big expectations on Wembanyama after being drafted No.1 overall by the SpursCredit: Getty
French basketball phenom Wembanyama was drafted first overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2023 Draft and is currently settling into life in the NBA.
On Tuesday, the 19-year-old played in the eleventh game of his fledgling career. He scored eight points and went 4-for-15 from the field, including 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, as the Spurs fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 123-87.
It was a disappointing performance, but through the first 11 games of his career Wemby stacks up pretty well to LeBron and MJ.
The 7ft 4in star has put up 205 points through the first eleven games of his career, averaging 18.6 points per game (PPG).
LeBron, meanwhile, put up 182 points during his first eleven NBA games for an average of 16.5 PPG.
Air Jordan dropped 289 points in that same stretch for an average of 26.3 PPG.
Unsurprisingly, Wemby has the edge (and the height) on both when it comes to rebounds. The Spurs rookie is averaging 9.3 rebounds per game through his first eleven games compared to LeBron’s 6.5 and Mike’s 5.6.
James, however, averaged the most assists during his first eleven games. The King averaged 6.5 assists while Victor is averaging 2.5. Jordan was putting up 4.7 dimes a game during that same span.
Michael Jordan and LeBron James faced pressure like few other NBA rookies haveCredit: Getty
James continues to put up incredible numbers at the age of 38Credit: Getty
Wembanyama also beats both in blocks – he is averaging 2.4 blocks per games compared to Jordan’s 2.0 and LeBron’s 0.8 – but is last in field goal percentage.
He is averaging 43.2 per cent from the field through eleven games while MJ and LeBron averaged 49.1 per cent and 43.3 per cent respectively.
Of course, context is everything when comparing the raw numbers, and eras have to be taking into consideration.
Jordan played in an era where defenses were genuinely much tougher and players were allowed to ‘hand-check’ opponents – meaning if a player was guarding a perimeter player he could extend his hand and put it on the player to “check” him – something no longer permitted.
The early 2000s was also one of the best defensive era in basketball and was dominated by some of the best big men we’ve ever seen. LeBron had to go against the likes of Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, Ben Wallace, and Kevin Garnett on a nightly basis.
By comparison, today’s NBA is a three-point league, defined by ‘pace and space’ where any number of players can put up 30+ points on a given night.
As a result, stats can be inflated when comparing them across time, begging the question of how a rookie Jordan or LeBron would perform in today’s NBA.
We’ll never know. But what we do know is that Wembanyama is putting up some excellent numbers during the start of his career and carving out his own legacy in the process.
