Victor Wembanyama has become the most compelling basketball player alive. There’s stiff competition for that title, yet the San Antonio Spurs star has claimed it as his own. Now, in just his third NBA season, he’s in the NBA Finals for the first time and leading the Spurs against the New York Knicks. Emmet Ryan on how the humanity of the Alien has made him even more extraordinary than we could have imagined.
The quote at the end of Game 7 really does a lot of the heavy lifting here: “This feeling, I can’t explain it. It’s so powerful.” Victor Wembanyama was shedding tears of joy, as the San Antonio Spurs booked their appointment in the NBA Finals with the New York Knicks.
In just three short years in the NBA, the first second of which was heavily curtailed due to deep vein thrombosis, he has set himself up as the face of the sport going forward. The stats are obvious. Heck, he’s even responsible for stocks (steals plus blocks) becoming part of the sport’s language. Now he’s got a platform like never before.
About that nickname
The Alien is a downright cool label. It works, it’s timeless, it’s going to stick with Victor Wembanyama long after he finishes playing basketball. The nickname also fits. How else would you describe a 7’4” guy that moves like Wemby?
The San Antonio Spurs superstar leans into all of it. He has the defensive reach and makes his combination of height and length a weapon yet has the lithe movement to be able to play well below his size. That feels like it’s going to be important against Jalen Brunson and the Knicks.
When Wemby was just a curiosity, the label was a quick explainer for fans new to the sport. Now, it’s more of a brand than a full analysis of the basketball player that carries it. The person within has proven to be far more fascinating.
A much-witnessed rise
Think about when Luka Doncic was drafted. Despite being a clearly defined leader for Real Madrid for a few seasons, winning the Euroleague and picking up the MVP award, he was still treated as an unknown going into the NBA Draft on the other side of the Atlantic.
By contrast Victor Wembanyama moved from Asvel, a Euroleague side, to a Metropolitans 92 team that wasn’t even playing in any European competition. Yet all of his LNB games in France were watched closely around the world.
He wasn’t a mystery to the NBA when he arrived. The San Antonio Spurs as a landing point made rather apt sense. A franchise that never seemed to buy the ‘mystery’ label on Europeans getting the most observed Euro in NBA Draft history made amusing sense.
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A monk, not a machine
This tweet summed up the challenge the Knicks face with Victor Wembanyama. The Frenchman has been quite open about his approach to discipline of both the body and mind. He shows a level of curiosity, self-invention, and self-reflection that is rare amongst the modern media-trained athlete.
The physical description of Wemby before he came to the NBA was essentially the Ivan Drago of basketball. Fortunately, in the whopping 5 years between Doncic and the San Antonio Spurs man getting drafted, NBA draftniks discovered the internet and actually watched Wemby play.
What we’ve seen is a man trying to expand what a basketball player can be. The off the court stuff is oddly more obvious than on the floor. The evolution of Victor Wembanyama can genuinely be traced back through Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and, yes, Dan Clark before them, very tall men who ignored the expectations of their build. Wemby is just doing it on an entirely new plain.
He has a heart
Covering semi-finals at major tournaments is when European basketball feels most like the NBA. With the bulk of big games, Euro based players (including the Americans) tend to be more open. It’s only at the semi-final stage where they truly clam up with sports-speak.
At the end of the equivalent in the NBA, the Western Conference Finals, Victor Wembanyama ignored the clichés and spoke from the heart. To hell with “one game at a time” and “job’s not done” lines, this was a man who didn’t care that millions of people could see how he felt in the moment.
And why not? With extremely rare exceptions, nobody reading this has ever done anything remotely like what Wemby has. In his third season, he has become the clear leader of the San Antonio Spurs and is in the NBA Finals. He recognises the nonsense of waiting for the ultimate prize to show his emotions. Getting there is a good thing and it’s good to enjoy good things.
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Yes, Europe should care
Aris Barkas is arguably the best basketball journalist in Europe. He’s also right far more often than I am. Yet I have to disagree slightly with my old friend when he says the NBA Finals are New York vs Paris.
Paris gets first dibs but then comes France and, really, the rest of the continent gets in on this party. Several European players have done well. A few have managed to be considered the best active player in basketball. Yet even Luka, Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo never quite hit ‘face of the NBA’ territory, despite coming close.
That’s the stage Victor Wembanyama has come closer to than any European prior. He has done so with both his basketball and a personality that is proving to have extraordinary crossover appeal. Now he’s got a best of 7 series with the Knicks in the NBA Finals to claim the throne.
The beginning
The next couple of weeks will decide if Victor Wembanyama wins his first ring this summer or if he’ll have to wait another season or two. Championships and many of them feel inevitable.
The real question is if the NBA will be able to handle a superstar with such appeal and relatable humanity. Michael Jordan always had the business side, LeBron James had that and a personality but both always had that bit of polish. The raw openness of Wemby is his appeal.
Consider this. In a year, Wembanayama will have the option of leading France at the FIBA World Cup. Even if he defers, he’ll surely help them get to the Olympics and challenge for gold in Los Angeles in 2028. Against the USA, do you really think younger fans in attendance will be quick to boo him?
I’m 45 and I’m wowed by him, I can only imagine how relatable he is to his own generation and the one following.
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