Victor Wembanyama took a seat behind a Spurs microphone, clapped his hands and snapped his fingers.
Now 21, Wembanyama was ready for his third Spurs Media Day. Monday was also his first meeting with local reporters since his eventful summer.
“I did a lot of interesting things, and you didn’t see all of them,” Wembanyama said. “You saw more than I’d like.”
Among Wemby’s travels included an impromptu game of H.O.R.S.E. on the North Side with a San Antonio teenager.
Miller Borushko was shooting hoops by himself when the 7-footer approached him. Borushko told KSAT 12’s Myra Arthur all about it.
Also in June, the Spurs shared a video of Wembanyama walking along the Great Wall of China.
“It was an incredible experience,” Wembanyama said. “First of all, the culture shock of just being in China, even before reaching the temple at all.”
.@wemby exploring China! pic.twitter.com/8YKmZkgR13
— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) June 5, 2025
While in China, it appeared someone took a picture of Wembanyama — perhaps without his knowledge — with his head shaved during time he spent with monks at a Shaolin Temple.
“It’s so interesting and very surprising. I really loved it,“ Wembanyama said. ”Training with the monks in the temple was an incredible experience. Very much out of my comfort zone, you know? It was my intent from the start, but that’s probably as far as physical activity that I’m used to doing. So, it really paid off in terms of training. As a life experience, as a curious person, it’s just great.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said Monday that he continues to be in “awe” about how Wembanyama conducts himself as a citizen of the world.
“Yeah, especially when you follow it on social media like a lot of people have, right? It’s a pretty unique rabbit hole you can get down,” Johnson said. ”For someone of his age, he is so intentional in the variety of ways that he tries to improve as a player and a person. It’s really something I’ve never witnessed or experienced in my time.”
Wembanyama told reporters that his deep vein thrombosis diagnosis, which ended his 2024-25 season shortly after NBA All-Star weekend in February, motivated him to go to parts of the world that he hadn’t seen before.
“It’s life-changing. I was spending so much time in hospitals and around doctors hearing more bad news than I wish I heard,” Wembanyama said. “Of course, it’s traumatic. But in the long run, I think it’s going to be very beneficial because, even though I don’t wish it on nobody (sic), it makes you understand lessons that nothing else could have made you understand.”
Wembanyama — who posted increases in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage from his rookie season to his sophomore campaign — said he feels more in tune with himself and his game.
“I can assure you nobody has trained like I did this summer,” Wembanyama said. “I can tell the progress is, just, incredible. I feel better. I look stronger. The scale says I’m heavier, so everything is a green light. … I’m so much more under control, and my conditioning has been so much better, but that comes at a price.
“What I’ve done this summer, even in the field of professional sports, I don’t think many people have trained the way we’ve trained this summer.”
More 2025 Spurs Media Day coverage on KSAT:
- Spurs’ Mitch Johnson on Wemby’s return to action and setting his agenda in first full NBA season
- ‘I feel good’: Spurs rookie Dylan Harper optimistic about pre-season return after thumb surgery
- San Antonio Spurs host media day ahead of 2025 training camp
- Spurs announce themed nights, promotional schedule for 2025-26 season
