Last March, San Antonio Spurs sensation Victor Wembanyama was spotted at a local car store shopping for a new vehicle. Particularly, the 21-year-old Frenchman was reportedly looking to buy a sports car at San Antonio’s Roman Motor Academy.
Among the cars on display, Wembanyama set his eyes on a white Nissan 370Z sports car.
Despite what looked obvious, the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year insisted on trying to fit himself in the driver’s seat of the 2-door car. Of course, he didn’t.
“I’m not sure what he was thinking he could fit in a 370Z,” wrote car store owner Rich Roman on Facebook.
Wemby’s legs were too long to fit in the driver’s seat
The Nissan 370Z is a two-door sports car produced by Nissan Motor Company. It was first unveiled at an auto show in Los Angeles in 2008, and the final model was released in 2020. It’s unclear what model Wemby wanted to buy, but based on the video, it looks like the 2013 convertible version of the roadster.
It was originally priced at $48,430, but a used version when bought today is in the $11,995 to $29,995 price range. For that price, it packs a lot of power. The 370Z has a 3.7-liter gasoline V6 engine that delivers 337 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque.
However, with a legroom of 42.9 inches, it fits a driver up to 6’6″ tall. With Wemby easily ten inches taller, it’s no surprise that he couldn’t get both his legs inside the driver’s seat, even when adjusted. At the end of the video, Victor looked disappointed, but it was obvious that the Nissan 370Z was too small for him.
Chamberlain built his own sports car
Well, if Wemby is really serious about getting a sports car, perhaps he should take the cue from the late great Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt always loved sports cars, but at 7’1″, he never found that one car where he was comfortable sitting in the driver’s seat. So Chamberlain commissioned a British car-maker to build a Le Mans-style sports car that would fit his massive frame.
“He had to sit on a padded mat that snapped to the floor of his Lamborghini Countach because he and the driver’s seat could not fit comfortably inside. Chamberlain finally had a car built for him, a Le Mans-style racecar called the Searcher One,” The New York Times wrote.
Chamberlain reportedly spent $750,000 on the Searcher One, but that was during the 90s. Last year, it was reported that the GOAT, Michael Jordan, bought a customized Pininfarina Battista Targamerica hypercar. The 1-of-1 car had a base price of $2.2 million, and car experts pegged MJ’s unit to be at least $3 million. So yeah, there are options for Wemby, just for the right price. However, the question remains whether he is willing to spend that much to satisfy his need for speed.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 3, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.