DALLAS — On Thursday night, French basketball star Victor Wembanyama was the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft by the San Antonio Spurs.
Towering four inches above seven feet, the 19-year-old showcases a wide range of skills on the basketball court unlike we've ever seen for a player his height.
Complete with an eight-foot wingspan, Wembanyama follows a long line of basketball unicorns from Europe including two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki.
LeBron James has referred to Wembanyama as an "alien" because of his skill to match his extreme size.
Once you see him palm a basketball like an apricot, it becomes strikingly obvious why is he is widely considered a generational talent -- and the most hyped draft pick since LeBron in 2003.
From The Seine to the Riverwalk, Wembanyama's journey to the NBA is not without Texas influence.
His trainer, Tim Martin, is based in Dallas.
"This has been the biggest year of my life," Martin told WFAA's Jonah Javad.
Martin is one of the most respected skills trainers in the basketball community.
He has trained Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey since he was a freshman at South Garland High School.
Martin's worked with Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Trae Young when he was a budding star at Norman North High School.
However, his rise to prominence did not happen overnight.
Born in Arlington, the devoted Dallas Cowboys fan spent most of his childhood traveling around Texas and the southwest with his mother.
"Every time the rent was due, we were moving," Martin recalled.
Dribbling state to state, he attended 11 schools over 12 years from elementary through high school.
Basketball became his rock.
"It was always that one thing I could fall back on," he explained. "It was the one consistent thing for me.”
Martin played high school ball in New Mexico and received a Division I offer to Pepperdine but had to attend junior college due to poor grades.
Then an ankle injury in junior college put an abrupt end to his D1 hopes.
With nowhere to turn, he moved to Dallas where he met his father for the first time and built relationships with extended family, like his cousin Fred Campbell.
Martin was 23 when his son Christian was born.
Money was tight. He and Christian's mom struggled to make ends meet. When they split up, Martin could not afford a place to live.
Too prideful to ask for help, Martin slept in the back seat of his car for seven months.
He would take showers in a nearby recreation center and shave in the sink.
"And then when I could generate some income from training some of the players, I would rent out a motel room," Martin detailed. "Those would be the days I go and pick Christian up [from his mom's place] and he would stay with me at that little motel."
Eventually, his car was repossessed.
All he had left was shared custody of his son and two garbage bags of clothes.
Tim Martin was homeless.
"Hitting rock bottom, it can't get any worse," he said. "So, I started turning that feeling more into optimism.”
In his darkest hour, a friend took him in and he slept on a "little brown loveseat" in an apartment for two years.
Over time, he grew his bank account and his roster of players to train.
"Without that experience, I would never be who I am today," Martin declared.
Nowadays, Martin trains many of the game's up-and-comers, including NBA newcomers and native Texans Keyonte George, Anthony Black, Cason Wallace, Marcus Sasser, Mike Miles Jr. and Drew Timme.
"If you had told me three years ago, we'd have six-to-seven guys go in the first round [of the draft], I'd say you're lying," Martin smirked.
In 2019, Martin was first told, "Remember the name, Victor Wembanyama."
"Wemby" was 15 years old at the time and a raw, rising star in Paris.
Martin had trained France's Rudy Gobert in the past. Sure enough, Wembanyama hired the same agent as Gobert. So, the agent connected the Texan with the teenage Frenchman.
“The French connection," Martin said. "That’s where it all started.”
Martin and Wembanyama were set to begin training him in 2020 when Covid hit.
Due to travel restrictions, the two were forced to hold virtual sessions via Zoom.
Gyms were closed so Martin would go out to tennis courts in the hot summer heat and demonstrate footwork drills into his laptop camera.
Wembanyama would watch and replicate back in France, while Martin provided feedback and coached technique.
In April 2021, the two met in person for the first time when Martin traveled to France to train Wembanyama for a few weeks.
It was the first of nearly half a dozen transatlantic trips Martin would take over the last two years.
Then last summer, Wembanyama got his first taste of southern hospitality when he spent a few weeks training with Martin -- in Dallas.
"He loved the people,” Martin said. "He was enamored by everything. From the buildings to the architecture. The taste of the cuisine.”
Wembanyama was awestruck by Bass Pro Shop, the size of the highways and sheer number of pickup trucks in Texas. A distant departure from the narrow roads of Paris riddled with Peugeots and Citroëns.
Perhaps the only thing bigger than Texas -- and Wembanyama -- is the immense external expectation levied on the kid from the Parisian suburbs.
Despite the hype and pressure to become an instant success story, Martin is not worried about Wembanyama's psyche.
"As crazy as this may sound, he doesn’t pay attention to it," Martin said. "That’s part of his greatness already. He wants to be great -- but for himself, not for others.”
Does Wembanyama have a comparable personality in the NBA?
"Nobody’s like Vic," Martin smiled. "He’s almost like he’s been here before. He’s got an old spirit. He’s 19 years old but you'd think you’re talking to a 40-year-old man. He’s so wise beyond his years."
Martin said his relationship with Wembanyama is built on trust. With the time it takes on and off the court to work on the craft, a sense of loyalty comes along with it.
"With him having success, it’s been phenomenal," Martin said. "For him, his family, his friends. And it’s cool for me to be behind the scenes and cheer him on.”
For Martin and his own nomadic journey, the magnitude of this moment in his life and career is not lost on him.
"It motivates me to work that much harder," Martin asserted. "I don’t really take too much time to say, ‘Oh we made it.’ With the expectations for him, I want to make sure I'm growing and getting better as a trainer and as a coach."
Much like LeBron, his "generational talent" predecessor, Wembanyama is sure to be scrutinized and nitpicked every step he takes in the NBA.
Fortunately, San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich has a lengthy history of turning international prospects into Basketball hall of famers.
While Dallas fans are sure to boo Wembanyama and the in-state rival Spurs, there's at least one man in Dallas giddy to see what "The Big Chameleon" can accomplish.
"That's probably been the most rewarding thing out of all of this," Martin noted. "Just seeing his growth on and off the court. And knowing that his dream will now be a reality."
It's real. Time will tell just how spectacular it is.