San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Former All-Star, DPOY offers wild predictions for Victor Wembanyama

Retired small forward Metta World Peace made some bold predictions for San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama in the wake of Wemby's career-best effort vs. the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.

Prior to Wembanyama's 38-point, 10-rebound masterpiece in the victory over the Suns, World Peace posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the Spurs star was "the best 19-year-old (he'd) ever seen."

The Frenchman has led San Antonio to a surprising 3-2 start (including back-to-back upset wins against Phoenix on the road). Wembanyama's career-high 38 points on Thursday went with the 10 boards for his second double-double, as well as two assists, two blocks and one steal on 15-for-26 shooting, including 3-for-6 on three-pointers.

The 2023 No. 1 overall pick is averaging 20.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 1.6 assists and 1.4 steals in 28.6 minutes per game across five contests. Wembanyama has gone 38-for-76 from the floor (8-for-25 on three-pointers) and 19-for-26 on free throws for a .500/.320/.731 shooting line.

Suns superstar Kevin Durant dished high praise for the teenage sensation following Thursday's game.

While Wembanyama is one-of-a-kind and looks to be on his way to superstardom, World Peace's predictions are certainly out there and it's likely that he was exaggerating to some extent.

The only players in NBA history to win 10 championships are Hall of Famers Bill Russell (11) and Sam Jones (10). The pair of teammates won all of their titles with the Boston Celtics during the late 1950s and then nine out of 10 years in the 1960s.

There have only been two rookies to ever win the regular season MVP award -- Wilt Chamberlain in 1960 and Wes Unseld in 1969. One unique statistic that Wemby could have going for him in pursuit of an MVP is that each of the last five years has featured an international big man capturing the hardware.

Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks (Greece) won in 2019 and 2020, Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets (Serbia) won in 2021 and 2022 and Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers (Cameroon) won in 2023. Still, history doesn't favor any rookie, no matter how extraordinary, winning MVP over his veteran counterparts.

Perhaps the only one of World Peace's predictions that could come true is Wembanyama making First-Team All-Defense and First-Team All-NBA. As for capturing the Most Improved Player of the Year honor, the one-time All-Star was likely kidding, as rookies aren't eligible for that award.

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