Victor Wembanyama admits he doesn't like his new nickname

Long before he made it to the NBA, scouts from all over the world were already raving about Victor Wembanyama. He couldn’t have asked for a better place to land and develop his talent than the San Antonio Spurs, a team used to having elite big men and foreign players.

Gregg Popovich had already found plenty of success with David Robinson and Tim Duncan, and the expectation is that he does the same with his new first-overall pick.

However, Wembanyama is a player like we had never seen. Others like Kristaps Porzingis and, to a lesser degree, Aleksej Pokusevski and Bol Bol have similar body types and skills, but no one is as good as Wembanyama.

That’s why he doesn’t seem to be much of a fan of the ‘Unicorn’ nickname. That was given to Porzingis and several players before him, and he’s not like any other player in NBA history.

Wembanyama Doesn’t Like To Be Called A Unicorn

“That nickname’s been used over and over, so I’m not really a big fan of it,” Wembanyama told reporters Wednesday ahead of his debut at the Madison Square Garden. “Just like LeBron said, everybody’s been a unicorn. There’s just one alien, right?”

He’s talking about LeBron James’ quote on him not being an unicorn but an alien. Even one of the greatest players of all time was in awe of his combination of size and skill before he set foot on an NBA court:

“We’re labeling like this unicorn thing—everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years,” James said before the NBA Draft. “But he’s more like an alien—no one has seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and as graceful as he is on the floor.”

Back then, Wembanyama was humbled by James’ words. He also claimed that he’s striving to be just that: a one-of-a-kind player who cannot be compared to anybody else:

“First of all, I’m really glad he said that because I didn’t like to be called a unicorn,” Wembanyama said. “I like it because it’s just something not from this world. I like being called an alien, yeah. It’s really what I’m working to be—something unique and original.”

He’s Gonna Grow Through His Mistakes

Wembanyama has had some great performances to start his career. But just like what happens with every rookie, there are going to be ups and downs during the first couple of years:

“He’s a 19-year-old rookie who just learned about the NBA. Of course, it’s a learning experience. We’re not putting him in situations until we know where he’s most comfortable and where he reacts the best,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I just figured out recently he likes one block more than the other block, and it’s the opposite of what you would think. So we need to observe him for a while and see where he naturally performs the best.”