Victor Wembanyama, the Frenchman who makes us the envy of the NBA

Victor Vembanyama does not go unnoticed wherever he goes. A resident of Chesnay in the Paris suburbs of Yvelines, he has a truly unusual physique. Everything in the house is XXL. Height 2.21 m. Its arms are expanding, its width is 2.43 m and it size 55 !

But what makes his strength above all else is his talent. Everyone knows it, especially old people like it lebron james, one of the greatest basketball players in history: “We often portray boys as unicorns, but he’s more of an alien! No one had ever seen someone so tall be so fluid and graceful on the field. It is clear that this is a generational talent.”

Indeed, Victor Wembanyama is the dream of every American team in the NBA. Last fall, when Boulogne-Levallois traveled to Las Vegas with the Mets, the entire franchise traveled. The media, too, and they were pleasantly surprised when they discovered that the boy was already fluent in their language. It must be said that he played NBA it has always been his dream. Everyone advertises it future number one draft pick next June. The draft is an annual high-profile event in American basketball that allows franchises to recruit the best prospects on the planet.

A pure product of the tricolor formation

Meanwhile, the young Frenchman is flourishing precisely in France, at the Boulogne-Levallois club. Victor Vembanyama is also a pure product of the tricolor formation. He trained at Nanterre before returning to the Paris area this season, improving at Tony Parker’s Villeurbanne club ASVEL and signing with the Mets, whose coach Vincent Collet also coached France. With him, Wemby – one of his nicknames – polishes his game.

Vincent Collet also spends a lot of time with his new protégé, who he works with the team outside of official training and advises: “You have to be demanding with him because he is a great player to come. he is already a great player. He also has extraordinary abilities in learning. That’s a huge strength because it means we don’t know where it might stand right now.”

The Americans understood this well. Imagine this season all Wembanyama matches are broadcast on the NBA app. Then the player’s best moves are broadcast on social networks, for example, on the NBA Instagram account to 75 million subscribers. Delirium!

In French rooms, it is often necessary to push the walls. Everyone wants to see this phenomenon. For example, rapper Travy Scott or American actor Michael Douglas, who has already visited twice. Also in the match against ASVEL was Grand Corps Malade, a former basketball player. “We tell ourselves that we have to use it, it’s there, it’s ready, it’s a few meters away from us. And of course from next year it will be far away across the Atlantic. There, it’s still a little bit ours. We’re taking advantage of it.”

He keeps his feet on the ground

Still, the kid keeps his feet on the ground and keeps his head cool, as Mets director of sports operations and former Blues coach Alain Weisz admits: “At his age, he’s getting plaudits everywhere with those kinds of calls, especially the top players, he’s a big could take place. He’s an incredibly balanced guy who remains the same“. He doesn’t lead himself: “I would say it gave me a little more work to manage communication, but when I have work, I’m a better functioning person, I’m very organized, have good days, long nights, that’s how I organize my life.”

Victor Wembanyama is also very well covered. His parents are former top athletes, his father was a triple jumper and his mother was a basketball player. They are very reserved. It is the sports agents who already manage the careers of the greatest French basketball players, who also ensure extreme exposure. Jeremy Mejdana is one of them: “We have to reject 99% of requests, because otherwise, Victor, he’s not playing basketball anymore!”

In accounting terms, the player’s salary is now estimated at between 180,000 and 240,000 euros per year. If he signs with the NBA next June, his first contract is valued at 12 million euros. And this only applies to his employment contract. Sponsors start coming in, but here too his agents are wary of doing anything. Nike, with whom he already has a contract, is considering a signature sneaker.

In short, at 19, Victor Wembanyama’s future looks bright. However, he remains a child far from adolescence, the fan Star Wars who really doesn’t like screens, prefers to read, draw and play Lego!