“AW, MAN, MY ARMS are really bigger than my body!”
Paris. Early September. Sunday morning.
The speedlights are flashing nonstop inside a photo studio in the 11th district. Victor Wembanyama acts surprised. He is looking at a picture of himself with his arms stretched out holding a ball in both hands. A vision of the present and the future. Even he can’t believe what he sees. The 18-year-old recently measured 7-4 barefoot, and with an 8-foot wingspan—which would comfortably be the longest wingspan in the NBA right now.
After almost every shutter click, Wembanyama wants to see how he looks. The color. The attitude. The pose. Maybe he can do better. Let’s do it again. No vanity there. Just a desire to fully understand the process. He always wants to understand the process. At one point during the photo shoot, he starts to juggle three basketballs at once, effortlessly. It shouldn’t look so easy.
“My dad [Félix] taught me when I was 7 [years old],” Victor says casually. Wembanyama smiles. He is having fun. “That photo shoot is really a nice experience,” he says. “Photography is an art,” he says, “and I’m also an artist.”
Back in 2018, Bouna Ndiaye of Comsport had the same impression the very first time he saw Victor. “He was 14,’’ remembers Ndiaye, who also
