Charles Barkley can’t help but get emotional when he thinks about the future of the NBA being in the hands of Victor Wembanyama.
While some have questioned whether the next face of the NBA has to be an American-born player, Barkley seems sold on the 7-foot-5 “Alien” from France.
Barkley joined Mike Greenberg on ESPN’s Get Up Friday morning to preview Game 2 of the NBA Finals, and he admitted to recently getting emotional about Wembanyama and how he is already representing the league.
“The emotion that kid showed after Game 7, it almost brought tears to my eyes,” Barkley said of Wembanyama beating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. “I was like, the NBA is in a great place having that kid as the face of our league for the next 20 years. His emotion, it was incredible. And then I watched the press conference, and he talked about how much winning meant to him. It made me so proud that that guy is gonna be the face of our league for the next 20 years.”
Steph Curry once ruined the NBA for Barkley, who often has more of a ‘my era was better than yours’ attitude. But he seems to feel different about the NBA with Wembanyama at the helm, because he cares.
Wembanyama was in tears after advancing to the NBA Finals by winning a road Game 7 against the defending champion Thunder. Kevin Garnett criticized the 22-year-old from France for being too emotional while the NBA Finals were still looming. But Barkley viewed those emotions as a testament to how much he cares about winning. And in an era where the NBA is often criticized for tanking or load management, they might benefit from having a star who cares about winning as much as Wembanyama does. If the face of the league cares about the regular season, All-Star Game, or the NBA Cup just as much as he does a championship, that will resonate with the rest of the players.
We’ve never seen a non-American become the face of the NBA. But just thinking about Wembanyama carrying that baton has Barkley feeling pretty great about the league’s future.
About Brandon Contes
Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com