By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – France’s Victor Wembanyama possesses a talent that defies comparison, retired great Yao Ming told Reuters, as the seven-foot four-inch (2.24-metre) rookie makes his highly anticipated National Basketball Association (NBA) regular-season debut on Wednesday.
Not since LeBron James 20 years ago has a prospect generated excitement on the level seen for the San Antonio Spurs’ first overall pick, who will start at home against Texan rivals Dallas Mavericks after a remarkable preseason.
“I never see a big guy like, you know, (who) can do such a thing like he does,” said Yao, an eight-times NBA All-Star who stands two inches (five cms) taller than Wembanyama.
“In a scout report where we say ‘This guy is — how old he is, you know, his height, his wingspan and his capabilities’… and ‘He looks like, let’s say, a former somebody’, you know. For him it’s like, I don’t know who shall I put up… no comparing.”
Yao spent his entire NBA career with the Houston Rockets and remains an iconic figure of Chinese sport after fuelling the popularity of the NBA in his home country. He retired from the NBA in 2011.
The Hall of Famer was reluctant to offer advice to Frenchman Wembanyama, who enters the NBA at a time of unprecedented international participation in the league.
“He has his own expedition to go (on),” said Yao, who was travelling to New York as part of a some 30-person Chinese delegation this week.
“And my experience probably from 20 years ago, I’m not sure is still fit for today. So I just wish him all good luck.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, additional reporting by Echo Wang in New York; Editing by Clare Fallon)
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