Victor Wembanyama poses for a photo with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being selected first overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA draft. John Minchillo/Associated Press
NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, headed to San Antonio with enormous expectations to become basketball’s newest sensation.
The selection of the 19-year-old from France that had been a foregone conclusion for months was announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, followed by chants of “Wemby! Wemby” from a group of Spurs fans waving signs from the first row of seats.
Wembanyama arrives with far more height and hype than most No. 1 picks. Listed at 7-foot-4, he dominated his French league in his final season there, leading all players in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.
Now he makes the move to the NBA, perhaps as the best prospect since LeBron James came out of high school in 2003. Wembanyama brings a package of skills that seem perfect for the modern NBA and too vast for one player, with the size of a center and the shooting and ballhandling ability of a guard.
“Hearing that sentence from Adam Silver, I’ve dreamed of it so much,” Wembanyama said, tears in his eyes as he left the stage with his Spurs cap on and hugged his siblings. “I’ve got to cry.”
Wembanyama was the center of attention throughout the draft process and sat in the middle of the green room – for the short time he was there, anyway. He smiled for young fans who screamed “Victor!” as he walked around the arena, even encouraging one to throw him a basketball that he signed and tossed back up into the stands.
The Charlotte Hornets took Alabama freshman forward Brandon Miller with the No. 2 pick.
Scoot Henderson, a point guard who skipped college and played two seasons for the G League Ignite, was the No. 3 pick by the Portland Trail Blazers.
It was during a two-game series between teams featuring Wembanyama and Henderson last October in Las Vegas when Wembanyama solidified himself as the main man in this draft, scoring 37 and 36 points in front of scouts and some future opponents. His highlights, such as a follow dunk of his own missed 3-pointer, became can’t-miss content for basketball fans during the past season.
Wembanyama is the Spurs’ third No. 1 pick, and the first since Tim Duncan in 1997, which led to a stretch of five NBA championships through 2014 before they struggled in recent seasons.
Wembanyama became the first international player drafted No. 1 without playing any college basketball since Andrea Bargnani in 2006 and ended a run of 13 straight years where a college freshman went first. Blake Griffin, a sophomore in 2010, was the last No. 1 who wasn’t a one-and-done.
Henderson was originally considered the likely No. 2 pick before Miller passed him after his outstanding season for the Crimson Tide. But the 19-year-old believes the two years he played in the NBA’s minor league has him more ready for NBA success.
“I’m the most prepared player in the draft. That’s what I say,” Henderson said. “The fact that I went there for two years just taught me so much. On the court, as well, but a lot of things off the court.”
Draft history was made with the fourth and fifth picks. Twins Amen and Ausar Thompson of Overtime Elite became the first brothers to be selected in the top 10 of the same draft, with Amen going to the Houston Rockets and Ausar following to the Detroit Pistons.
“Means a lot to my family,” Amen Thompson said. “We were going to be happy whoever went first. For us to go back-to-back, be the first twins to go back-to-back in the top five means a lot.”
Anthony Black of Arkansas was taken sixth by Orlando, ending the run of three straight players who hadn’t gone to college. But then it was right back to the international ranks when Indiana picked Bilal Coulibaly, Wembanyama’s teammate with Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92, whose stock soared in the postseason as the team reached the finals in the Pro A League.
The Pacers dealt Coulibaly’s rights to Washington for Houston forward Jarace Walker, who was taken at No. 8.
The Nos. 10 and 12 picks were also swapped, with the Dallas Mavericks taking Kentucky guard Cason Wallace and dealing his rights to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had taken Duke big man Dereck Lively II.
Gradey Dick of Kansas, whose dazzling red jacket resembled Dorothy’s shoes from “The Wizard of Oz,” went to Toronto with the No. 13 pick before Jordan Hawkins of national champion Connecticut was taken by New Orleans to end the lottery.
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