Seventeen kilometres west of Paris rests a suburb, or town, or village – it feels like all of the above and none of the above – named Le Chesnay. Bordered by an oak and chestnut forest, and the ostentatious Chateau de Versailles – but also the brutish A13 freeway and a Westfield mall – the tiny banlieue seems sleepy in its isolation. It’s a weird mix of historic bourgeois structures and modern blockish pragmatism, and, like much of Paris, its sloping streets are shaded with rows of plane trees – planted by order of Napoleon, as shade for his marching troops.
It’s also where the great sporting hope of this French republic – notwithstanding “Magique” Leon Marchand – was born and raised. I’m referring to The Unicorn. The French Rejection.
Big Vic. Or the nickname Nike gave him: The Extraterrestrial. I’m talking about Victor Wembanyama, the 224-centimetre “alien” (basketball great LeBron James’ nomenclature, not mine) who was last year’s No.
1 NBA draft pick for the San Antonio Spurs, and who is currently preparing to lift the French national basketball team into medal contention at his home Olympics in Paris, starting with a quarter-final on Monday. They say Wemby is the future of hoops, so it’s prudent to examine his past. First stop is the first local basketball court identified by Google Maps – Gymnase Remilly – where Hugo Zeitter, 29, Victor Lentz, 29 and Julien Plouvier, 30, are playing under the midday sun.
These incredibly sweaty lad.