Throughout the history of the National Basketball Association, one thing has almost always been true. The league is exceptionally difficult – and especially so for rookies. Unless your name is Magic Johnson, the first year of one’s career portends struggle, heartbreak and mistakes aplenty. But what the NBA has also taught its players is that the name of the pro game is resilience. It’s about what one does with those hard times that matters most. Fall, but get up. And when it comes to the 2023-24 season’s two most hyped rookies – Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, who were picked first and third in the 2023 draft, respectively – the new season is proving to be a test of all they’ve prized and prided themselves on in the past.
Last week, the teenagers met for the first time in the NBA. The game, which was the opening of two back-to-back ones for the Spurs and Blazers, also marked the first occasion the two rookies squared off in opposing jerseys since October 2022 in a then-highly touted showcase, which pitted Henderson’s G-League team against Wembanyama’s Metropolitans 92 squad from the French top division. This time, it was Wemby’s San Antonio Spurs playing against Henderson’s Portland Trail Blazers in the City of Roses. With the teams struggling at the bottom of the Western Conference, the matchup shed light on the reality that last year’s headlines won’t quite carry over to this year. But led by championship coaches – Gregg Popovich for San Antonio and Chauncey Billups for Portland – the question remains: How will the rookies rise to the level of their decorated play-callers?
