Victor Wembanyama's Agents Predict $100M Shoe Contract; Rejected 'Some Rich' Deals

Victor Wembanyama remains basketball's man of mystery—even to companies that want to ink him to lucrative endorsement contracts.

The presumptive top pick of the 2023 NBA draft has been turning down "rich" offers from companies, agent Bouna Ndiaye revealed to Brian Windhorst and Jonathan Givony of ESPN.

"What we're trying to do, first of all, is make Victor rare," Ndiaye said. "We don't want him all over the place. We don't want to have 20 partners. That doesn't make him a known basketball player. Victor says, 'You want to be the best.' When you want to be the best, you have to focus on basketball. And Victor is rejecting some rich, million-dollar deals right now because he wants to focus on basketball."

Wembanyama currently plays professionally for Metropolitans 92 of the LNB Pro A and has been free to sign endorsement contracts throughout his career. His management has instead preferred to give him an air of mystery, allowing his sensational performance on the court to do the talking.

Wembanyama has been a mortal lock for the top pick in 2023 since his early teenage years, which saw him burst on the scene with a once-in-a-generation combination of size, quickness and skill. Some consider Wembanyama the greatest NBA draft prospect since LeBron James and one of the best in league history.

The French star's agents predict he could land a shoe contract worth upwards of $100 million before playing an NBA game. James signed a seven-year, $90 million deal with Nike coming out of high school in 2003, and that remains the largest rookie shoe deal in history. The largest contract since was a $75 million contract signed by Zion Williamson in 2019.

While James' contract would be worth the equivalent of about $146 million in 2023 given inflation, Wembanyama's potential to break LeBron's record in terms of actual dollars speaks to the generational hype.