The NBA was a center-dominated league for decades until the skillsets of guards and forwards completely revolutionized the game and took it over. Between the 2002-03 and 2020-21 seasons, the NBA went 17 years without a big man being crowned MVP, the longest drought in league history.

Now, the big men are back. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid have combined to win the last four NBA MVPs, and a new big man has emerged to change the league entirely.

San Antonio Spurs 7-foot-3 phenom Victor Wembanyama has taken over the NBA at just 21 years old. Wembanyama is averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 35.2% from beyond the arc on 8.8 attempts per contest.

Wembanyama’s ceiling is like nothing the league has ever seen, and the French big man could completely change the game. At just 21 years old, the NBA will have trouble finding ways to stop him for a long time.

Former Sacramento Kings star center and four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins was asked about Wembanyama, comparing his physical dominance to that of Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, per HoopsHype’s Cyro Asseo de Choch and Sam Yip.

“I don’t know how you would adjust, right?” Cousins said about Wembanyama, “I mean, I think it’s almost like a LeBron James, where you’re just blessed with these physical gifts at birth. These are physical specimens, from the height to the coordination, to the fluidness, to the touch. There’s just a lot of physical gifts there. So as far as adjusting, I don’t know what those adjustments would be.”

Many have called Wembanyama the best NBA prospect since James, and there is no exaggeration to say the Spurs phenom has the potential to get to be on par with the NBA legend. Wembanyama is already in line to win his first Defensive Player of the Year award as a sophomore this season, and there are likely many more to come.

Cousins himself was a “physical specimen,” standing at 6-foot-10 with more strength than 99% of the NBA, but players like Wembanyama and James are on another level. It feels odd to compare the two as such different players, but their natural feel for the game combined with their physical dominance certainly draws comparisons.

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