Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, left, drives against Nuggets center Nikola Jokic during a game in April. Wembanyama will be a big attraction at the Olympics in Paris. Eric Gay/Associated Press PARIS — Sports are often a secondary attraction in Paris, with athletes having a difficult time standing out in a cultural sphere driven largely by food, fashion and the arts.
Victor Wembanyama may use the Paris Olympics to be the first homegrown sports star to dismantle that dynamic. The 7-foot-4 French-born phenom made San Antonio Spurs games must-see viewing as a rookie this past season, boosting his already swelling global brand. Now the 20-year-old is returning home for the Paris Games as by far the biggest name in his country’s Olympic delegation.
Wembanyama literally will be a center of attention this month, and not just because of what he can do on the court, but because he’s become a central figure with the charisma to draw in ardent sports fans and casual French citizens alike. “I tend to underestimate the fan enthusiasm for me. I don’t pay more attention to it than that,” Wembanyama said recently.
“But when I returned to France a few weeks ago for the first time, I felt the enthusiasm of the public that was different from before.” The arrival of “Wemby” in the NBA, the world’s premier basketball league, was anticipated for years as his reputation and skill set stood out while he rose through the ranks of French basketball. It was not unlike the rise of 25-year-old French soccer star Kylian Mbappé, who at just 18 helped lead France to a World Cup title in 2018 and another World Cup final in 2022 while simultaneously taking his place as one of club soccer’s top players.
But after last month’s announcements that Mbappé had left local Paris Saint-Germain to join Spaniash power Real Madrid, followed by news that he won’t be competing for France in the Olympics, it’s put even more focus on Wembanyama, who said he’s always held the Olympic stage in high regard. “I have been preparing for them since the first time I saw the Olympics on TV,” Wembanyama said. “It was always a dream and then as we grew up, it became a goal.
It’s definitely something that’s really unique in sport. I think it’s the most important sporting event in the world.” Wembanyama will miss the much-anticipated opening ceremonies Friday because of scheduling concerns.
France will open basketball group play the next day in Lille, more than an hour’s train ride away. And rest will be important with Wembanyama being central to France’s hope of being one of the top contenders to end the United States’ streak of four straight gold medals. In an interesting coincidence, the U.
S. team, with players Wembanyama competed against as a rookie, will have a few practices on Wemby’s childhood home court in Levallois-Perret in Paris’ western suburbs. It’s another small reminder of how far Wemby’s imprint in these Paris Games extends.
Benjamin Moubèche, a correspondent for France-based REVERSE who moved to San Antonio to report on Wembanyama’s NBA arrival, said while the rookie is still competing for attention with well-known French athletes like judo star Teddy Riner or emerging talents like Léon Marchand in swimming, “no athlete resonates with all generations quite like Victor Wembanyama.” “Wemby appeals to both young people, who are increasingly interested in the NBA, and older generations, who are fascinated by his unique physique and excited to see a Frenchman excel in a sport where France has not been historically dominant,” Moubèche said. But what’s also made Wembanyama’s overall ascension different from other French sports stars has been his appreciation for the cultural metropolis he grew up in.
In the aftermath of winning NBA Rookie of the Year, one of the first items on his agenda was to model for French luxury brand Louis Vuitton while serving as one of its ambassadors during a Vogue show at Paris Fashion Week last month. “I felt a lot more pressure, but positive pressure, at the time of my first match with Spurs than during the Vogue fashion show on Place Vendome,” he said. “Of course I enjoy participating in extra-sports events like that, but it’s not a euphoric pleasure like basketball.
Basketball is really my passion. It’s what I live for.” Whatever this next month does for his personal status, Wembanyama said success on the court is what continues to drive him.
“I don’t read the news about me, I don’t hang out on social networks,” he said. “The enthusiasm around me is not something that bothers me at all. Just trying to take the positive out of it.
It’s something I would like to enjoy after winning titles.” Modify your screen name Please sign into your Sun Journal account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe .
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