The face of the NBA: Can Luka or Ant succeed LeBron and Curry?
However, there are a couple of obstacles that could block Wembanyama’s seemingly simple path to following in James’ footsteps.
The first is the Wembanyama position. Arguably no center has been the face of the league since Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain in the 1960s. (Depending on your definition, perhaps Shaquille O’Neal briefly slipped between Jordan and Bryant.) Even all-time greats like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan couldn’t overcome that positional bias, perhaps because fans find it harder to identify with 7-foot players than with perimeter players.
Wembanyama will also make history as the first international player to become the face of the league.
The four best players in the NBA —Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-AlexanderDoncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo — are all foreigners and have not yet conquered the throne, and none seem like an undisputed successor to Curry and James. Antetokounmpo could be the closest, since he has been the player with the most All-Star votes in the last two seasons (James, Bryant or Curry led the ranking for 11 consecutive seasons before Antetokounmpo), but he is already 30 years old and time is running out to make a place for himself.
Still, Wembanyama has enough upside to probably be the top choice to be the next face of the NBA. Even their competitors agree. Last season, a journalist asked Anthony Edwards if he considered himself a candidate for the position.
“No, not really,” Edwards responded. “That’s why they chose Wemby.”
Nothing captures the imagination like an athletic shooting guard who can score in a variety of ways: precision jumpers, acrobatic layups, ferocious dunks. Thanks to Jordan, this is probably the player archetype most associated with the figure in the league.
For years of Jordan’s career, people wondered who his successor would be. And then along came Bryant, imitating Jordan to perfection, and carrying the baton for more than a decade after Jordan left the Bulls.
The active analogue: Despite his protests, Edwards He’s the natural choice to follow this path, as a charismatic, swaggering shooting guard with immense talent and a competitive spirit. Few active players can score in as diverse ways as Edwards, who led the NBA in 3-pointers made last season and has never faced a 7-foot-3 opponent he wouldn’t want to turn into a poster.
And if an international figure isn’t up to the task, Edwards could be the best option, although he has faced controversy on the pitch. In the Bontemps poll, Edwards received 11 of 20 votes for the best American player in 2030.
Other potential candidates abound in this profile, as the sport is filled with high-octane point guards. The possibilities even filter to the university level: Could the next figure in the NBA be Darryn Peterson, from Kansas, the main promise of the 2026 draft, who has already been compared to Kobe entering his first year?
A final candidate worth discussing is more original, but still fits the pattern. Bryant was named All-NBA for the first time in his third season, then was named All-Defensive and the second-best player on a championship team in his fourth. Although for a time he was in the background, behind MVP O’Neal in the Lakers, he seized the figure crown and did not let go.
There is an active player who has just accomplished all of those feats: All-NBA, All-Defensive Team, second best player for a champion, in his third season. The Oklahoma City Thunder forward, Jalen Williamswill become the face of the NBA in the coming years, but it is not impossible either. He is following a proven model and continues to improve to become a potential dynastic champion. In June, Williams became the youngest player since Magic Johnson to score 40 points in a Finals victory.
Route 3: The leader of the Lakers
There is no statistical marker for the face of the league, no physical award or Basketball Reference designation; rather, to paraphrase former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart—on a very different topic—it is instantly recognizable.
Given such subjective criteria, context matters; Where a star plays, in what nationally televised games and marquee events, can be almost as important as skill and statistical achievement. That’s why so many historical faces of the league have been Lakers with mononymous names, like Magic, Kobe and LeBron. Even the face literal of the NBA —Jerry West, “the Logo”— shone for the franchise with more glitz, glamor and appearances in the Finals.
The active analogue: James’ successor as the leading Laker could also be his successor as the face of the league. Doncic he faces the same international hurdle as Wembanyama, but is otherwise a perfect candidate. He is the right age (26), decisive, a statistical marvel and a highlight machine.
Doncic made the Finals in Dallas, but could be better positioned to achieve elite stardom in Los Angeles by helping the Lakers win their 18th. qualification. After all, it wasn’t until Doncic joined the Lakers that he finally broke James and Curry’s stranglehold on the top spot in jersey sales.
Route 4: The unexpected ‘game-changer’
Curry is the most unexpected face the NBA has ever had. The slender point guard captivated with his participation in the university March Madness, but persistent injuries and a lack of playoff appearances meant that he did not fully shine for years in the NBA. He didn’t even make an All-Star team until his age 25 season, and the following year he won the championship and MVP trophy.
The active analogue: Curry’s exact trajectory is impossible to replicate. But let’s try it. We need to identify a player who wowed the masses in college, but has yet to have much sustained success in the NBA due to injuries and no playoff appearances. However, he is a unique force when healthy. And ideally, he’s also heading into his age-25 season.
There is a player who meets all those criteria. And although the expectation for Zion Williamson has diminished since making a splash at Duke in 2018-19, remaining dormant rather than disappearing completely. Despite all the ups and downs, he looks great heading into the 2025-26 preseason.
If not Williamson, another unusual candidate is LaMelo Ballan injury-prone point guard with incredible shooting range and a highlight reel maker. A quality of the league’s figure is an almost universal hobby, regardless of geography. Jordan was immensely popular beyond Chicago, and nearly every kid who shoots 3-pointers on any playground in the country loves Curry.
That’s an advantage for Ball, a favorite of the growing number of fans who follow basketball through social media and highlights. He is the youngest of 13 active NBA players with at least 10 million followers on Instagram. (The second youngest is Doncic; the third youngest is Lonzo Ball).
It might seem surprising to suggest that Williamson or Ball, two players currently underperforming on bad teams, could one day attract the same attention as Curry. But it would have been equally shocking if NBA observers in 2012 knew that Curry would become a four-time champion, two-time MVP and undisputed face of the league.
Route 5: Natural rivals
What’s better than just one side of the league? Two faces that can face each other on opening night, during Christmas games and in important playoff clashes. Curry’s constant encounters with James helped boost his Q score, and the rivalry between Bird and Johnson, which began in college and continued through nearly a decade of Finals matchups, is the stuff of books and documentaries.
Ultimately, the NBA tells a story. And natural rivals are a proven narrative tactic. Consider opening night of the 2025-26 NBA season, when James’ Lakers will take on Curry’s Warriors on the national stage once again.
The active analogue: As difficult as it is to predict which individual players will become superstars, it is even more difficult to predict which rivalries will materialize in the years to come. The ideal scenario is for one to develop organically, as charismatic stars face off in the playoffs year after year.
For example, Gilgeous-Alexander He has not yet taken advantage of his extraordinary success in the 2024-25 season to talk about his future in the league. Still, he could rise even higher alongside Doncic or Edwards, whom he has already faced in one playoff series each.
Rivalries could also propel a potential player to the top. For example, if Cooper Flagg and Wembanyama, former number one in the draft, develop a rivalry, as both have the potential to face each other not only in a highly competitive conference, but also in the Olympic Games. Or perhaps Flagg will go toe-to-toe with Doncic, given the distinct possibility of a Mavericks-Lakers rivalry in the coming years.
In the Bontemps poll, Flagg received five votes as the best American player in 2030, putting him second behind Edwards in that category. The latest number one draft pick has yet to play a single meaningful game in the NBA, but along with Wembanyama, Doncic, Edwards and others, he is already one of the leading candidates to ascend to the NBA’s most important social position.
