Houston Rockets: Breaking down the Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson showdown

The most meaningful basketball game played on US soil since the NBA Finals took place Tuesday night in Las Vegas. The match-up between the G-League Ignite and Metropolitan 92, a French professional team, was possibly the most anticipated scrimmage in basketball history. 

Why was a game between a middling French team and a G-League broadcast on ESPN 2? Well, it featured the top-two prospects in the 2023 NBA draft, Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, and these two aren’t your average top prospects. 

Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson

Victor Wembanyama is the most anticipated prospect since LeBron James. Standing 7’4 with a 7’11 wingspan, Wembanyama’s size alone would make him an NBA player, but he offers so much more than all-encompassing length. He’s light on his feet, is a silky jump shooter, and has an incredible handle for a player his size. To be as reductive as possible, imagine Rudy Gobert on defense with Kevin Durant’s offense coming from the same player. 

Scoot Henderson also deserves his flowers. Unfortunately, Henderson is in the same draft class as Wembanyama because in almost any other year he’d be the Belle of the ball. He’s an incredibly explosive athlete, has an impressive handle, is deadly in the mid-range, and is already comfortable orchestrating at the point. Henderson looks and plays like a bigger Derrick Rose or Ja Morant.

What we learned from the Wembanyama and Scoot’s showdown

To say Wembanyama and Henderson lived up to the hype would be an understatement. The pair dumped a 100-gallon barrel of kerosene onto the hype flames.  

The two went blow for blow and flashed all of the tantalizing skills that have NBA executives purposely building G-League rosters in an attempt to maximize their lottery odds.