Victor Wembanyama ready for the spotlight as the NBA Draft nears

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Victor Wembanyama walked into his first NBA news conference Wednesday morning, took his seat and looked out at a maze of cameras and microphones that have been awaiting him for years.

And then he smiled.

"What's up, everyone?" the French teen said.

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Boulogne-Levallois Victor Wembanyama, top, dunks during the Elite basketball match Boulogne-Levallois against Paris at the Palais de Sports Marcel Cerdan stadium in Levallois-Perret, outside Paris, May 16, 2023. Wembanyam is among the headliners among the top big men in the upcoming NBA draft.  (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)

Seeming poised and completely ready for what awaits him, Wembanyama's NBA chapter is now underway. The NBA draft — one that Wembanyama's towering shadow has hung over for months, blocking much of what is usually part of the process — is Thursday night, and he'll be selected No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs.

"Ever since I knew about the draft, exactly how it worked, I wanted to be first," Wembanyama said Wednesday. "I think I started to realize I could be a professional basketball player at the age of 12. Tomorrow, something's going to happen, something that I've been thinking (about) for years and years, I can't really describe how I feel right now. I just know I'm going to have trouble sleeping tonight, for sure."

There has been no debate about who the Spurs should take with the No. 1 pick, no discussion of which player might be a better fit, no real attempts to raise any red flags about the presumed selection.

When a player like Wembanyama comes along — and maybe none ever has — there's no real reason to