{"id":566423,"date":"2026-01-28T14:49:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T14:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/566423\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T14:49:38","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T14:49:38","slug":"spurs-player-victor-wembanyama-speaks-out-after-ice-shootings-in-minneapolis-im-horrified-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/566423\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs player Victor Wembanyama speaks out after ICE shootings in Minneapolis: \u2018I\u2019m horrified\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victor Wembanyama joins a growing list of celebrities and notables speaking out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

San Antonio Spurs player Victor Wembanyama<\/a> is \u201chorrified\u201d following the fatal shootings involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

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The 21-year-old NBA star<\/a>, who hails from France, spoke out despite some initial hesitation, he noted, during a post-practice press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 27, the San Antonio Express News<\/a> and CBS News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cPR has tried, but I\u2019m not going to sit here and give some politically correct [answer],\u201d he told reporters at the Victory Capital Performance Center, per ESPN<\/a>. \u201cEvery day I wake up and see the news, and I\u2019m horrified. I think it\u2019s crazy that some people might make it seem like or sound like the murder of civilians is acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

On New Year\u2019s Eve, an off-duty ICE agent in Los Angeles shot and killed a Black man, Keith Porter Jr., over celebratory gunfire. Since then, there have been two more high-profile killings of Americans by ICE agents, including Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were both shot and killed in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n

Investigations into the fatal shootings of all three are underway, though no charges have been filed in either case.<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs brings the ball up the court during the second half of the game against the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on January 22, 2026 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cI read the news and sometimes I\u2019m asking very deep questions about my own life,\u201d Wembanyama continued, adding, \u201cBut I\u2019m conscious also that saying everything that\u2019s on my mind would have a cost that\u2019s too great for me right now. So I\u2019d rather not get into too many details.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The basketball star, who joined the league in 2023, said he \u201cfor sure\u201d feared repercussions from speaking openly about such a hot-button issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s terrible,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cI know I\u2019m a foreigner. I live in this country, and I have concerns for sure. I think there\u2019s enough detail there for now. If privately, we can discuss it maybe later, but not right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two days before his remarks, the National Basketball Players Association released a statement saying the league\u2019s players can \u201cno longer remain silent.\u201d Wembanyama is also the second Black Frenchman in the NBA to speak out. A day earlier, Guerschon Yabusele of the New York Knicks shared his own thoughts in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t stop thinking about the tragic events unfolding in Minnesota, and even though I\u2019m French, I can\u2019t remain silent,\u201d Yabusele wrote. \u201cWhat\u2019s happening is beyond comprehension. We\u2019re talking about murders here; these are serious matters. The situation must change. The government must stop operating this way. I stand with Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wembanyama praised his fellow countryman, noting he\u2019s \u201calways proud of [people] speaking their minds.\u201d He added that Yabusele\u2019s words \u201cmight have some price right now,\u201d saying that \u201ceach and every one of us has to decide the price we\u2019re willing to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

More must-reads:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama joins a growing list of celebrities and notables speaking out against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,77025,204,194,44433,251,2113,307,6,191,969,27496,474,4075,4074,534,427,693],"class_list":{"0":"post-566423","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-fatal-shootings","10":"tag-guerschon-yabusele","11":"tag-houston-rockets","12":"tag-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-minneapolis","15":"tag-minnesota","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-new-york-knicks","18":"tag-san-antonio","19":"tag-san-antonio-express-news","20":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","21":"tag-sanantonio","22":"tag-sanantoniospurs","23":"tag-spurs","24":"tag-utah-jazz","25":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115973283343709984","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566423","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=566423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}