Charles Barkley fires brutally honest Victor Wembanyama face of the league take
Today at 09:46 PM
Victor Wembanyama has generated one of the biggest talking points in the NBA over the past few weeks. The question? Will Wemby become the next face of the NBA? The question was placed on the back burner Thursday, however, as it was revealed that Wembanyama will miss the remainder of the season due to deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder.
TNT’s Inside the NBA reported on the situation, and the guys (Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson) were all obviously sad about the news. Toward the end of the segment, however, Barkley wanted to make one final point about the Victor Wembanyama-inspired face of the league conversation.
“I saw some guys on another network talking about face of the league,” Barkley said. “And I was so annoyed just sitting around watching… First of all, you don’t give anybody the face of the league. Am I right Shaq?”
O’Neal confirmed Barkley was correct before Charles continued making his point.
“Shaq took being face of (the league)… When Magic Johnson and Larry Bird came in, they’re like, ‘we’re the new sheriffs in town.’ Shaq took it. Kobe (Bryant) took it. LeBron (James) took it. Steph (Curry) took it. I get so annoyed when I hear these guys, like, you don’t give somebody something. That’s one of the problems we got, these idiots won’t play in the All-Star game. We’ve given them so much, they don’t have no respect for the history. But you don’t give anybody the face of the game, you take it.”
Shaq shares his thoughts on Victor Wembanyama-inspired face of the NBA conversation
O’Neal later shared his thoughts on the situation.
“To counter what Chuck (Barkley) is saying, they, whoever they will be, they will try to put somebody as the face of the league, they do that,” Shaq said. “But Chuck makes a great point, you have to go take it. While they’re sitting saying him, Ja Morant is thinking something different, Luka (Doncic) is thinking something different… Ant Man (Anthony Edwards) is thinking something different.”
As mentioned, the Wembanyama face of the league debate has taken a backseat due to his health scare. The good news is that the Spurs star is expected to return next season. At still only 21 years old, his future in the NBA remains extremely bright.
As for the face of the league conversation, NBA fans are curious who will take the title and run with it. Sure, people will attempt to give the honor to different players. Morant and Edwards have both previously been mentioned as candidates. With LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant nearing the end of their careers, no young player has truly clinched the next face of the league title yet.
Could that change? Absolutely. Maybe it will be Victor Wembanyama.
Edwards, Morant, Doncic, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic are all possibilities as well. Only time will tell, but the NBA’s future is promising without question.
For now, the focus is on Wemby’s health, though. The entire NBA world is hopeful that Wembanyama can fully recover from his frightening health scare.
The post Charles Barkley fires brutally honest Victor Wembanyama face of the league take appeared first on ClutchPoints.
