As Stephen Curry and LeBron James move toward the end of their careers, Victor Wembanyama is the name being pushed into the center of the NBA spotlight.
For years, James and Kobe Bryant were the league’s defining stars through much of the 2000s and into the 2010s. Kevin Durant, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steve Nash were all elite in their own right, but none matched the way James and Bryant combined production on the floor with broad appeal away from it.
When Bryant’s career started to fade, Stephen Curry stepped into that space. His style changed the way fans saw the game, because plenty of people could look at what he was doing and see a version of their own play in it. That helped turn him into one of the league’s biggest draws.
Now, heading into the 2026-27 NBA season, James and Curry are both nearing the finish line. Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have already passed them as the best players in the NBA, but Wembanyama is the one expected to take over as the sport’s biggest star.
The league’s top tier is now overwhelmingly international. Along with Antetokounmpo, Jokic, Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama and Luka Doncic, the game’s best players all come from outside the United States. Wembanyama, in particular, appears eager to represent France and expand his profile overseas, and that has helped make him a central figure for the NBA.
Myles Turner said that kind of star has to check more than one box.
"You have to be someone who is highly marketable, someone who is recognizable, but also someone who doesn't have much drama going on off the floor," explained Myles Turner. "LeBron and Steph have done an amazing job.
Steph has an amazing image. Steph has done an incredible job of keeping his family first.
He's done a lot of stuff with his own brand, golf.LeBron has obviously been the chosen one since he was, what, 15 years old."
Turner also pointed to the bigger picture around Wembanyama’s appeal: talent matters, but so does everything that comes with it.
Between his skill, energy, eagerness and general lack of controversy, Wembanyama fits the profile. He did pick up a “dirty player” label during the NBA playoffs after elbowing Naz Reid and shoving Jalen Brunson, but that hasn’t done enough to seriously dent his image.
"It's not just your basketball talent," Turner added. "It's the person that you are off the floor, the things you stand for, and the thing that you're about."
Around the league, Turner sees Wembanyama as a long-term face for the game, and believes the NBA is in good shape with him in that role.
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