San Antonio Spurs supernova Victor Wembanyama just cares about winning championships and NBA MVP awards, but he’s incidentally become an intriguing, almost mythical figure for what he does off the court.
Earlier this postseason — Wembanyama’s first playoff run — ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne published an in-depth report about Wemby’s time at the Shaolin Temple in China last summer. In part, it revealed that he dribbled a ball up “a dangerous mountain route” in 4.5 hours.
Now that he and the Spurs are battling the New York Knicks in the 2026 NBA Finals in his first career playoff run, Wembanyama’s lore is growing again. The Athletic’s Jared Weiss published a thoroughly reported piece on Wemby’s quest to be the face of the NBA.
Wembanyama is quoted as saying he was “not gonna give basketball a choice of who the face is going to be.” But Weiss later illustrates that the 7-foot-4 Frenchman is not willing to sell out to get there, as excerpted below.
Before Wembanyama made the NBA, he was turning down marketing deals in the millions from beverage companies and living off his approximately $150,000 salary with his French club. Sodas, skin care, you name it. They all wanted him, but he declined.
“We’re not gonna mix his image with sodas like Coca-Cola,” [Angence Comsport co-founder Jeremy] Medjana said. “They all want him, but Victor will never sell soda. Because he doesn’t want to kill the kids.”
It’s hard to believe Wembanyama is just 22 years old. But sign me up for a decade’s worth of anecdotes like that one.
If the Spurs come out of the Finals on top, Wembanyama’s legend will balloon to proportions not seen since nascent LeBron James. The Knicks have not appeared in the Finals since losing to the Spurs in 1999 — and have not won the championship since 1973 — while San Antonio is seeking its first title since 2014.
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