{"id":331234,"date":"2025-10-09T16:37:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T16:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/331234\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T16:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T16:37:11","slug":"wnba-star-recalls-pickup-games-with-victor-wembanyama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/331234\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA star recalls pickup games with Victor Wembanyama"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Before <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/players\/b7ee095d\/victor-wembanyama\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Victor Wembanyama<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/san-antonio-spurs\/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-needed-16-minutes-post-wild-stat-line\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">became the face<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/san-antonio-spurs\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">San Antonio Spurs<\/a> and Dominique Malonga rose to stardom with the <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/wnba\/seattle-storm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Seattle Storm<\/a>, the two <a href=\"https:\/\/clutchpoints.com\/nba\/san-antonio-spurs\/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-needed-16-minutes-post-wild-stat-line\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shared a basketball court as kids in France<\/a>. Both hailed from Paris and spent their early years developing their games on playgrounds and in regional tournaments.<\/p>\n<p>During an appearance on The Old Man and the Three podcast, Malonga <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/4Cw3o9Nu9xk?t=570\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">reflected on how<\/a> her friendship with the Spurs\u2019 star began long before either was a professional athlete.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVictor and I are from the same town,\u201d Malonga said. \u201cI think I was 12, and we met randomly at a playground in our city. We just played as kids, like anyone who goes out to play basketball. After that, we saw each other again in tournaments around Paris. We both represented the 92 department.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A funny story between the Spurs star and Dominique Malonga<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3554549\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Spurs-21.jpg\" alt=\"Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga (14) gestures to a teammate before foul shot by the Las Vegas Aces in the second quarter during game one of round one for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs at Michelob Ultra Arena.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"574\"  \/>Candice Ward-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>That connection has followed both players into the professional ranks. Malonga, often dubbed the \u201cfemale Wembanyama\u201d for her length and versatility, quickly made her mark in the WNBA after being drafted second overall by the Seattle Storm. In her first season, she averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 42 games. She flashed potential that drew comparisons to her childhood friend in San Antonio.<\/p>\n<p>Wembanyama, who sat courtside for one of Malonga\u2019s early-season games in Dallas, has long expressed pride in seeing fellow French players thrive on the international stage. His support for Malonga and Storm teammate Gabby Williams underscores his growing role as an ambassador for French basketball.<\/p>\n<p>Malonga\u2019s next stop will be Turkey, where she will join powerhouse Fenerbahce for the offseason. There she\u2019ll team up with WNBA veterans Jonquel Jones and Emma Meesseman, both proven champions. The experience could sharpen Malonga\u2019s game even further as she looks to build on a promising rookie campaign.<\/p>\n<p>From a playground in Paris to opposite sides of professional basketball\u2019s global spotlight, Malonga and Wembanyama\u2019s shared journey continues to showcase how French talent is shaping the future of the sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before Victor Wembanyama became the face of the San Antonio Spurs and Dominique Malonga rose to stardom with&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,6,969,474,4075,4074,10985,534,693,458],"class_list":{"0":"post-331234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio-spurs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-san-antonio","11":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","12":"tag-sanantonio","13":"tag-sanantoniospurs","14":"tag-seattle-storm","15":"tag-spurs","16":"tag-victor-wembanyama","17":"tag-wnba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115345191571578994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}