Victor Wembanyama is a seven-foot-tall giant who, this season, has established himself as a generational talent who has impacted both the NBA and the French national team.
The 20-year-old San Antonio Spurs player dominated the league in his first season, winning Rookie of the Year honors, and was a standout performer for the franchise at their home Olympics in Paris.
Nicknamed ‘the Alien’ for his extraordinary height, wingspan and athleticism, he is poised to dominate in the coming years.
“He just works every day, puts an insane amount of hours into his body, his basketball IQ,” his Spurs teammate Jeremy Sochan told BBC Sport.
The Parisian was the number one draft pick in 2023, entering the league with enormous enthusiasm behind him.
Averaging 21.4 points and 10.6 rebounds in the 2023-24 season, he was head and shoulders above his Spurs teammates on a team that finished second in the Western Conference.
And if you haven’t already noticed from this article, Wembanyama – we can’t emphasize this enough – is gigantic.
Wembanyama is tied with Boban Marjanovic of the Houston Rockets and Zach Edey of the Memphis Grizzlies as the tallest players currently in the NBA.
Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol are the tallest players to have ever played in the league, both measuring 7 feet 2 inches.
Wembanyama is tied for the ninth tallest player in NBA history with several players including Marjanovic and Edey.
More than just height…
His height, along with an estimated 8-foot wingspan, creates a tailor-made profile for a center that can be destructive in and around the basket.
But Wembanyama himself said that Don’t just want to play in that position.
And why should he? He has the dribbling ability of a winger, can shoot from almost every position on the floor and offers an extraordinary blocking game… He offers versatility across the court.
And it’s the same in the French team: he and Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert together can serve as a defensive wall.
What’s next for ‘Wemby?’
Despite the poor record of a young team looking to try out the position in which Wembanyama plays best, the plan is there.
He plays under one of the league’s most successful coaches, five-time champion Gregg Popovich, and there aren’t many from whom Wembanyama could learn more.
If they get the right pieces around them, like veteran point guard Chris Paul, who they acquired in the summer from the Golden State Warriors, the Spurs won’t be far from returning as title contenders in the coming years.
After all, they have been there before and it was with the help of a Frenchman, Tony Parker, that they last won the championship in 2014.
Although he was a little smaller, only six feet tall…
Wembanyama’s early dominance led many to predict he would be next ‘NBA guy’.
This is a title usually given to someone who also makes noise off the court – which is what ‘Wemby’ is doing.
He has teamed up with French luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton, signing on as the brand’s ambassador in early 2024.
He also inked a footwear deal with Nike reportedly worth more than $100m (£84.2m), putting himself at the forefront of basketball culture.
And with the San Antonio Spurs taking on the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA game in Paris, Wembanyama will be front and center, especially since it takes place during Paris Fashion Week.
A player who, on a daily basis, has to bend down to avoid most ceilings doesn’t seem to have any for his career.
