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Jordan. Kobe. LeBron. Who Is Next? Tim Legler on Cooper Flagg Wemby and Luka.
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Jordan. Kobe. LeBron. Who Is Next? Tim Legler on Cooper Flagg Wemby and Luka. Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at square.com/go/WINGO #squarepod #sponsored Every era of the NBA has had a face. A player so dominant, so compelling, so must-watch that the whole league rises around them. When that player is at their peak the Finals ratings set records. The casual fan tunes in. The cultural conversation follows. Jordan gave the league six championships and a global brand that still prints money thirty years later. Kobe gave it obsession and Mamba mentality and a Los Angeles dynasty that defined a generation of basketball fans. LeBron gave it two decades of dominance across four franchises and a level of sustained excellence that may never be replicated. And then — since 2018 — the throne has been empty. The Warriors run was extraordinary but it was a team story not a face story. The bubble Finals happened in a vacuum. The ratings dipped. The casual fan drifted. The NBA has been searching for its next face ever since. Right now there are three candidates. And Tim Legler — one of the most respected analysts in the business — breaks down the case for each one. Where they are. What they have done. What they still have to prove. And which one he thinks gets there. Cooper Flagg Only the second player since Michael Jordan to lead his team in points rebounds assists and steals as a rookie. That stat alone tells you everything about the completeness of his game. Legler says everything you need to be the face of the NBA is already there — the competitive nature, the all-around game, the media presence. He is built for the moment. The challenge is circumstance. He is on a team in complete transition. New coach. Roster questions. He is not going to walk into a situation where winning is easy or immediate. The face of the NBA needs to win. It is going to take time to build the right team around him. But the talent and the intangibles are not in question. Cooper Flagg has everything. Victor Wembanyama Every game Legler watched Wemby play last year there was at least one moment where he thought — that is the only person on earth who could have done what he just did. Seven feet five. Handles like a guard. Shoots from anywhere. Blocks shots from angles that should be physically impossible. The intrigue is unlike anything the NBA has had since Shaquille O'Neal walked into the league — and even that comparison undersells how unique Wemby actually is. The challenge is comfort. He is twenty-two. He is foreign-born. He is introspective and thoughtful and takes ten seconds before answering a question because he wants to give you something real. That quality is admirable. But the face of the NBA has to connect with a national audience that does not yet feel like it knows him. That trust and openness will come. Legler believes it comes in the next two to three years as he gets more comfortable and more accessible. When it does — and the talent is already there — this thing could be over very quickly. Wemby becomes the face and nobody debates it. Luka Doncic He has been to a Finals. He has done extraordinary things in Los Angeles. He is one of the most skilled offensive players the league has ever produced. The case for Luka is real and it has been real for several years now. The challenge is winning. Oklahoma City is not going anywhere. San Antonio is not going anywhere. The Western Conference is loaded with young talent that is only going to get better. The Lakers are navigating the post-LeBron era and nobody knows exactly what that team looks like in two or three years. Luka needs to win big. Win deep into the playoffs. Win a championship. The face of the NBA cannot just be a great player — it has to be a great player who wins. And that chapter for Luka is still being written. The bigger picture The NBA is in a fascinating moment. The ratings for these Finals are up ninety percent from last year. The next generation is arriving in real time — Wemby in his first Finals, Flagg finishing a historic rookie season, Luka entering his prime. The casual fan is coming back. The cultural conversation is shifting back toward basketball. But the league is always better — always more must-watch, always more culturally relevant — when there is one name above all the others. One face on the poster. One player that even someone who does not follow basketball closely knows and cares about. Jordan had it for a decade. Kobe had it for a decade. LeBron had it for two decades. The throne is ready. Three players are standing right next to it. Tim Legler on which one sits down first. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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