Victor Wembanyama predicted to have Tiger Woods-like treatment from endorsements

NBA Legend Gilbert Arenas shared his prediction about Victor Wembanyama gaining Tiger Woods-like comparisons in marketability.

Victor Wembanyama predicted to have Tiger Woods-like treatment from endorsements

Victor Wembanyama draws Tiger Woods comparisons

Victory Wembanyama has already established himself as one of the most promising young talents in the league. The sophomore out of France capped off a historic rookie season by winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award and leading the French Basketball team to a silver medal at the Paris Olympics. With growing hype behind Wemby, NBA legend Gilbert Arenas revealed why he sees similarities between Tiger Woods and Wembanyama.

Arenas and the crew took to the Gils Arena podcast to discuss who they feel is the next face of the league, based on the marketability of the stars. While many names were thrown out, like Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards, Arenas revealed that he believes Victor Wembanyama is poised to be the next face of the NBA.

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Arenas drew comparisons between the poise and business know-how of Tiger Woods and Wemby. He said:

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I’m going with Frenchy. His mannerisms; it’s like he already knows the business. He reminds me of Tiger Woods. He’s in elevated, more prestige-type of Bougie. Ant-Man can get into Nobu. But Wemby’s Nobu is just the black one where there’s just 12 people that get in. There’s things that are going to be given to Wemby that no one else can get.

Gilbert Arenas said on his podcast

Victor Wembanyama has already become one of the most globally recognizable superstars in the NBA. The French phenom drew eyeballs from across the world even before he was drafted into the NBA, owing to his outlier skillsets and size. Arenas’ comparisons between Wemby and Tiger Woods seem apt, given not only the talent levels the two possess, but also the business acumen.

Tiger Woods is presently only the second active billionaire athlete, apart from LeBron James. Woods is widely considered the greatest golf player of all time, but it’s his off-court endorsements, especially with Nike, that have turned the athlete into a billionaire and the face of the sport.

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Wembanyama possesses some of the same acumen. During his first year in the league, he secured brand endorsements from Nike and Louis Vuitton, among others. Wemby’s deal with Nike has been reported to be worth almost $100 million. With his high marketability and heavy cultural impact, it seems that Wembanyama is well poised to stand out as the next face of the NBA, at least as per Gilbert Arenas.

Victor Wembanyama reveals his ‘Big Three’ rivals to dunk on

Victor Wembanyama stormed the league in his rookie season, delivering poster after poster on every team’s star. As he enters his sophomore season, the French Big Man wants to raise the stakes and go for the big dogs. In an interview with CBS Sports, Victor Wembanyama revealed the three players in the league he would like to dunk on. His answer?

The best defenders would be the biggest challenge… So I’d say Rudy, Kawhi and a third one would be Jonathan Isaac. I think [Isaac’s] a really, really underrated defender.

Victor Wembanyama said in the interview
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Wemby chose fellow Frenchman Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard and Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Isaac as the defenders he would most like to dunk on. And he had fairly solid reasons to choose the three as well. Wemby stated that dunking on the best defenders in the league would be the most difficult challenge, and hence, his pickups.