There’s no two ways that Victor Wembanyama is the next big thing in the NBA. He has the certifications from the league greats and the previous “generational talent” himself, LeBron James. Remember Wemby’s first game against the Lakers on February 23? Although the Spurs lost 118-123, post-game saw James praise the young center for his unbelievable performance. “I said it from the beginning that he’s special.” And while the unanimous ROTY appreciated that, it seems there was something more he valued than those words.

Joining CBS Sports’ Ashley Nicole Moss for an exclusive interview, Wembanyama provided more details on the matter. “The phrase really didn’t matter because LeBron was such an icon already before he even talked about me at all. So just playing against … LeBron, guys like LeBron, but especially him make the match up very special and yeah, kind of surreal sometimes, just to see guys like that in real life,” Victor said.

And this is coming from a 7’4″ (and still growing) “Extraterrestrial” center! But what he said makes sense. Just the elite level of performances he showcases, even though Bron is nearing 40, is reason enough to be in awe of the 4x champion. But more importantly, watching how someone of James‘ stature dominated the league since he walked in as an 18-year-old from Akron, with sky-high expectations on his young shoulders certainly makes for a surreal experience, wouldn’t you say?

While the NBA’s all-time scorer has often talked about the struggle to reach the expectations (he exceeded every time), Victor Wembanyama has adopted a confident and calm demeanor to approach those. “The rise of expectations has been going on all season, so there’s no reason to change anything in what I’m doing,” he pointed out during an interview in early February.

Well, whatever it is that he is doing has certainly paid off. Wemby’s new look is just like his mentality.

Victor Wembanyama has an insane physical transformation to go with his ‘killer’ mentality

By now, you might have gotten an idea of the 7’4 center’s personality. All he cares about and focuses on is basketball. The 20-year-old literally couldn’t care less about the surrounding noise. He made that much clear in his sharp response to a reporter during the Spurs Media Day. “I just focus on my actual responsibilities. I don’t have any responsibility to any of you,” he said in reply to the ‘managing expectations’ query.

This comes in the wake of Wemby’s shocking physical transformation to start the season. As San Antonio shared their official roster, Victor’s weight was listed at 235 pounds as opposed to the 210 before this. That’s a 25-pound increase and yet, he clearly did not look jacked. And apparently, that was thanks to unique drills that ensured his physique remained intact.

In the past, his agent Bouna Ndiaye, pointed out that the team around him is “going to fight to not put weight on his body”. So, while there was an increase in his weight, it wasn’t the usual route of weighting lifts to add pounds. Rather, the approach was to add strength to his core.

Combining this with his statement to Moss, where he says “I don’t feel in my place when I’m not in that killer instinct mode,” the league is in for a rollercoaster ride. After all, Wemby’s goal is to lead his team to the playoffs and get a ring as fast as possible.