When I was 14 in my first year in the academy in France, I had the reputation as someone who did not play defense. One day, the opponent coach said: ‘Oh yeah, he’s a NBA prospect, but he can’t play defense. So attack him.’ So I took that personally… And the rest is history

The full interview about his DPOY in French can be found here

Source: https://www.lequipe.fr/Basket/Actualites/Wembanyama-elu-defenseur-de-l-annee-a-l-unanimite-en-nba-ca-signifie-qu-il-n-y-a-pas-de-place-pour-le-debat/1669787?utm\_source=Social%20media&utm\_campaign=twitter&utm\_content=photo&utm\_medium=Social%20media

29 comments

  3. Funny to think that Wemby didn’t just manifest into the world as a destroyer of the basketball

  7. This sounds like Shaq and MJ inventing insults in their head to use as motivation.

  9. how tall was Wemby at the time? And it’d have been a real shame if he had just become one of those great scorer useless defenders. I think about that a lot with players who could’ve been incredible defenders but weren’t. Who are some guys like that?

  10. Taking that personally at age 14? Wemby seems like he has the non-douche version of MJ’s personality

  11. That’s crazy he just willed himself to be the tallest person in the NBA

  15. “That fuckin Wembanyama boomed me.” The opponent coach added. “He’s so good”, repeating it four times. The opponent coach then said he wanted to add Wembanyama to the list of players he works out with this summer.

  16. I do not believe the freak of nature who was taller than everyone by large margin for his entire childhood was ever a defensive liability

  20. Tell me about a time you struggled with something in your job and how you overcame it.

  22. All these comments man… Tacko is taller than Wemby, where are his unanimous DPOYs? The guy is huge and became an expert in actually using that advantage

  23. Mugsy Bogues “One day, the opposing coach said : ‘he’s a NBA prospect, don’t attack him he will embarrass you.’ So I took that personally… And the rest is history.

    Bogues went from 7’3” to 5’2” after that.

  25. “Also… I’m a 7″5 alien with an 8 foot wing span that no one can shoot over… that too”

    I love Wemby but come on my guy lol you’re built like an NBA2K player that God created while playing life… that’s why you’re the best rim protector in the NBA… my guy is talking like he’s a 6″4 basketball savant with hidden wisdom LOL

  27. If he’s anything like Jordan/Shaq, this is probably a completely made up story that he wholeheartedly believes as reality

  28. I can guarantee you no one saw someone almost 8 feet tall and said “he can’t defend”

  29. Even more interesting, he says that according to the Spurs defense coaches, he makes a lot of mistakes, and that he’ll work to get much better.

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