Let’s talk about the phrase “generational talent,” which sometimes feels a little bit like the basketball version of crying wolf.

Victor Wembanyama of Metropolitans 92 focuses for a free through during the Betclic Elite Finals championship match between Metropolitans 92 and AS Monaco at Stade Roland Garros on June 15, 2023 in Paris, France.


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Let’s talk about the phrase “generational talent,” which sometimes feels a little bit like the basketball version of crying wolf.

It seems as if we hear the phrase every year around this time, even when that isn’t the case, and even when the list of No. 1 overall picks through history is littered with players such as Anthony Bennett, Andrea Bargnani and Michael Olowokandi.

Given hindsight, we can judge that Kevin Durant was the truly generational talent in the 2007 draft. At the time, though, it would’ve been tough to argue that — given the Portland Trail Blazers, who held the top pick, didn’t use it to select him.

This time around, everyone seems to agree the label should be attached to Victor Wembanyama. There is approximately zero suspense to whether Wembanyama will go to the Spurs with the top pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, and hasn’t been since, generously, October, when he dominated two exhibition games in Vegas and prompted LeBron James and Stephen Curry to call him, respectively, “an alien” and a “2K create-a-player.”