“Wemby Era Is Here”: Stephen A. Smith Makes Major LeBron James Statement Over Face of NBA

In 1998, Michael Jordan hit the shot over Bryon Russell in Utah, retired and came back. He retired again, and for the better part of a decade the NBA kept waiting for someone to inherit the title he left vacant. Kobe held it. LeBron James carried it longer than anyone in league history, two decades and counting as the most recognizable face the sport has produced.

Stephen A. Smith made the case that the wait for the next name is finally over. Asked who he considered the face of the NBA today, Smith stated.

"Believe it or not, I think at this particular moment in time it's Victor Wembanyama," Smith said. "But up until he arrived, I think you could still make an argument it was LeBron James. I think LeBron James is still the preeminent face in the game based on his credentials, his resume, his lengthy history — but Wembanyama has definitely arrived, and the Wemby era is definitely here."

Smith wasn't dismissing LeBron's case. He drew a distinction between the résumé James built on two decades of sustained dominance and the cultural face, which he believes has shifted to a 22-year-old who just played his first NBA Finals.

Wembanyama led the Spurs to 62 wins and a Western Conference title. He finished third in NBA MVP voting, and became the youngest player in playoff history to record a 40-20 game, all while carrying a San Antonio roster with a fraction of the Knicks' championship experience all the way to a Game 5 in the Finals.

Even in defeat, he averaged 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 3.6 blocks per game across five games against the Knicks team.

New York's defense was led by an All-NBA-caliber center in Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks' ball movement made one Bleacher Report analysis compare it to peak Golden State, and it made Wembanyama look "entirely human" down the stretch - 9-for-25 shooting in the Finals-altering Game 4 collapse.

He admitted as much himself after a costly turnover in Game 2: "I threw that one away. I messed up. We didn't play great as a team. We needed to win that game. This game was ours."

Wembanyama entered the league already carrying outsized hype. But hype alone doesn't produce a Western Conference title or a third-place MVP finish in year three.

LeBron, meanwhile, enters his 24th season with the Philadelphia 76ers. It will be on a dramatically reduced contract, chasing one more championship rather than defending his standing as the league's dominant on-court force.