The NBA season started a month ago, and there’s a talented new basketball player on the scene. I’m talking about the NBA’s newest star rookie, Victor Wembanyama!
Wembanyama is a basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs. At 19 years old, he stands at a staggering 7’4”. This makes him not only taller than Shaq, who stands at 7’1”, but it makes him one of the tallest NBA players ever, according to the NBA. Born in Le Chesnay, France, The New York Post posted that his mom, Elodie de Fautereau, used to be a basketball player for the French National Team, while his dad, Félix Wembanyama, played in field sports. Before Wembanyama started playing basketball, he practiced judo and played soccer.
He started playing basketball at the age of seven, practicing with his local youth’s basketball club, Entente Le Chesnay–Versailles. He was so good that he was able to compete in divisions for older kids. After working his way through some younger leagues, he eventually made it to the U-19 French International Team. The Olympic Committee stated that once Nicolas Batum, a Tokyo 2020 Silver Medalist, saw him practicing near where the French National Team was, he immediately wanted to draft him, saying “We’ve got to get this guy, Victor Wembanyama”.
When the draft started, Wembanyama was the most anticipated prospect. In an interview, LeBron James said, “Everybody’s been a unicorn over the last few years, but he’s more like an alien. No one has ever seen anyone as tall as he is but as fluid and graceful as he is on the floor.”, according to The Olympic Committee. I don’t know about you, but once one of the best in the game calls somebody a great player, I’m all ears. Since the Spurs won the #1 Draft Pick this year, they, obviously, chose Wembanyama as their player. So far, he has a 19.2 PPG (points per game), scoring 22 points in each of his last 3 games according to the NBA.
According to CBS Sports, he is living up to expectations; “Wemby has been unreal. He’s living up to the hype, and is looking every bit the once-in-a-generation talent that everyone projected him to be.” Keep up to date on how he and the San Antonio Spurs do this season at nba.com/spurs.