VIDEO – “Extraterrestrial, it’s a nickname that I like”: Wembanyama recounts his journey in Sept à Huit

“Alien”, “extraterrestrial”, There is no shortage of qualifiers to designate Victor Wembanyama. At 20 years old, this French basketball prodigy raises immense expectations, a year after being chosen first in the NBA draft by the San Antonio Spurs. Having become a phenomenon in the American championship in just a few months, he has accumulated unprecedented titles for a Frenchman, and even for any beginner in the toughest championship in the world. Faced with the sporting and media whirlwind that now precedes him, what is going on in this head which peaks at 2.24 m? “Extraterrestrial is a nickname that I like because it evokes something different from what we know, from another world. And that’s a bit of the objective of creating something new. Originality is also something that I am constantly looking for in my life.” he explains to Audrey Crespo-Mara, in the interview that can be found above.

It’s a fight every night. There are clearly five people on the ground who want to harm me.

Victor Wembanyama

With his giant size, Victor Wembanyama reaches a wingspan of 2.45 m, which considerably hampers his opponents. But its unusual morphological characteristics require it to make many adaptations. “Sometimes, we feel like we’re moving with a bag of stones on our back. It’s overcoming these difficulties that is the daily challenge. For example, when we run for 40 minutes, all the signs of our bodies say: ‘stop, rest, sit down'”, he says. But be careful not to reduce Victor Wembanyama to his morphology alone. “Unfortunately, there are varieties in people’s repetitive reactions. It ranges from a simple look or a somewhat ostentatious expression of shock, to inappropriate remarks or jokes”he admits.

Because the player has other qualities and in particular an extraordinary clairvoyance of the game, a “vista”, as his coaches say. “It’s a lot of feeling already. I would say that it also comes from an ability to keep your head above water, to remain lucid with the pressure of the defenders, of the room in which we play, of the stakes” , he explains. And to add: “It’s really close to chess. In fact, it’s going to be a battle to know who, the defender or the attacker, will have the most moves in advance and the most ways of responding to their opponent’s moves.”

However, the game is not won easily. And like a manga hero, a genre that he particularly likes in his readings, the Frenchman will have to assert himself in this very demanding American championship. “It’s a fight every night. There are clearly five people on the field who want to harm me. Mentally, it’s hard because it’s very demanding in terms of commitment. And for me , the biggest difficulty this season was to be present in each match, really”he assures, specifying that during the season, “these are frequent trips with a four-hour time difference between the west coast and the east coast”against “a match or two, maximum, per week in France”.

A “global phenomenon”

The fact remains that Victor Wembanyama was made for this champion career, with a first distinction at the end of his convincing season with Spurs since he was named “rookie of the year” (best young recruit). A coveted reward in the NBA. “This title goes to the young person who has had the most collective impact on his team”, he explains, proudly. It must be said that sport is a determining constant in his family, with a father specializing in long jump and triple jump and a mother, a former professional basketball player, who became a coach. As long as he can remember, “Wemby”, as he is nicknamed, has always had an orange ball in his hands. “On vacation, there were athletic sessions, running sessions and a lot of advice. Things that are not at all learned in the normal circuit and which are nevertheless essential,” he remembers.

His parents also gave him a lot of freedom. “My project was to be at the highest level in basketball and they did everything to enable me to get there. But if today, I tell them that I no longer want to play basketball and that I want be a chartered accountant, they will do everything possible to help me be a chartered accountant”, he proclaims. A desire to make him grow which is priceless, according to him. Just like the presence of his big sister and his brother, professional basketball players or in the process of becoming one. “My environment is totally conducive to not making me feel pressure”, he adds. A blessing when it is presented as a “global phenomenon”even “the greatest hope in the history of basketball”.

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A notoriety he does not want to get drunk on. Far from there. “It’s not what nourishes me, what makes me vibrate. I don’t try to play with it,” he says. Difficult, however, when you are the subject of a real “Wembamania” in San Antonio, where his portrait flourishes almost everywhere on the walls. “I feel this fervor, but it’s only positive. It’s not at all aggressive or intrusive, unlike other cities like New York where autograph hunters come knocking on doors at night of the hotel”, he admits.

Victor Wembanyama is also eagerly awaited in France where he should be one of the stars of the Paris Games. “This time, it’s special because it’s with the French team. These matches always add an extra dimension to the desire, to the energy. I think it’s patriotism. It represents a big part of what I want to do in my career, titles to win, I can’t accept losing against another country when I represent France., he warns. And the stakes are high. It’s about helping the Blues win a new Olympic medal, “if possible golden”, after the silver obtained in Tokyo in 2021. Especially since in Tokyo, the Blues failed in the final against… the Americans.