A 7’0’ high schooler snares the rebound and races toward the other end of the floor. He crosses up two defenders at midcourt, blows by another at the three point line, and dunks over a helpless six-fotter who’s simply trying to get out of the way.
Thon Maker is risen.
Maker, of course, is an Internet star — he of the viral hoops mixtape that dropped his sophomore year — billed as a once-in-a-generation freak with the body of Wilt Chamberlain and the skills of a guard. His video has amassed over 1.2 million views, convincing many that Maker is the next step in basketball’s evolution, a Karl-Anthony Towns or Kristaps Porzingis clone.