It's Victor Wembanyama's world and the rest of the NBA is just living in it

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Goooood morning, Winners. Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thank you so much for rocking with us this morning. We appreciate you.

Boy oh boy did NBA fans get a treat on Thursday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo vs. Victor Wembanyama was everything we thought it’d be and more. It was like a fever dream, honestly.

Watching those two go back and forth against one another in the waning moments of the game was unreal.

One second, we’re seeing Wembanyama get an incredible block and then hit a trailing 3-pointer. OK, cool. The next, Giannis does the Space Jam dunk all over somebody. OK. WOW. Then, WEMBY BLOCKS GIANNIS.

I have never seen anyone make Giannis Antetokounmpo look…small. Not until I saw this.

A look at this SPECIAL Wemby block on the #PhantomCam https://t.co/yakubmgawx pic.twitter.com/h9nKKivleQ

— NBA (@NBA) January 5, 2024

What an incredible play, man. We knew Wemby was special. We’ve been talking about it for the last year and change. This dude has the potential to completely flip the basketball world on its head. He does things he’s not supposed to be able to do.

But when he does things like that? Man. What are you supposed to do? The Bucks won, but he even left Giannis in awe with his performance.

“He’s special,” Antetokounmpo told reporters after the game. “I’ve never seen anything like him…The sky is the limit as long as you work hard and keep on having a positive attitude and energy toward the game everything that he dreams of is going to happen for him.”

That’s the perfect way to put it. We’ve never quite seen anyone that big be that skilled and well-rounded. Sure, we’ve seen tall guys block shots before. But have we ever seen someone this size backdoor someone like Steph Curry? Or go around the world with the ball and then dunk it?

No? Didn’t think so. This dude is unreal. The rest of the NBA better win as many titles as they can while they can. Because if this dude ever figures it out? It’s curtains.

Speaking of incredible rookies…

Shoutout to Connor Bedard, who was named an NHL All-Star for the Blackhawks on Thursday.

With that news, the rookie is now the youngest player in NHL history to be named to an All-Star team at 18 years and 171 days old. Bedard is the youngest player picked for the game since Jeff Skinner back in 2011.

This might be a bit of a controversial pick for some. The Blackhawks are 11-24-2 at the bottom of the Central Division. They’re not good. Not even close to it.

But Bedard has been awesome. Through 37 games he’s got 33 points total (15 goals and 18 assists). Despite the dearth of talent on his team, he’s managed to pull through quite a handful of those 11 wins himself with absolutely spectacular plays.

Some might say this pick is just because the NHL wants him as its new face. And, you know what? Maybe that’s part of the reason. But, no. Give him credit. This dude is extremely impressive.

He’ll be a fixture in this game for a long, long time. Might as well get used to it.

The Orlando Magic show Shaq some love

For years, the only number the Orlando Magic have ever retired has been the No. 6. Why? Because it represents the 6th man — the team’s fans. Yes, that’s extremely corny.

But that changed on Thursday. The Magic announced they’d be retiring Shaquille O’Neal’s No. 32 jersey in the rafters. Shaq actually learned this live on air and had the sweetest response. Our Cory Woodruff has more here.

Shaq learns that he'll be the first player in Orlando Magic history to have a jersey number retired. pic.twitter.com/ExvI1bqe19

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 5, 2024

“This is just such an awesome moment for O’Neal and Magic fans everywhere,” Cory writes. “Perhaps the best-ever player to take the court for the franchise will finally be enshrined in Orlando history. The No. 32 will belong to O’Neal for the rest of time.”

Very well deserved, Shaq.

Photo Friday: Nikola Jokic calls game

The NBA is run by Monstars now and Nikola Jokic is one of them. This dude is unreal. Banking in a game-winner from that far against the Warriors? That’s tough, man.

The best part was his response to Charles Barkley on the shot, though. “My friend, it went in. I’m happy.” EL. OH. EL.

Quick hits: All that for a mug?!?!…Believe in women’s sports, NCAA…and more

— I know y’all have seen all the craze out there for these Stanley x Starbucks Tumblers. Man. I thought sneakers were bad. Charles Curtis has more here.

— Meghan Hall makes the case that the NCAA’s new deal with ESPN could hurt the Women’s Basketball Tournament. Read more here.

— Gregg Popovich had the perfect description for Wemby’s awesome performance. Cory Woodruff has more here.

— Here are the 7 biggest games with playoff implications this weekend in the NFL from Christian D’Andrea.

That’s all, folks! Thanks so much for reading today! We appreciate you. Have a fantastic weekend. Peace and love. Be safe out here! We out.

-Sykes