Future Spurs Center Victor Wembanyama 'Very Active' on Staying Healthy
The health of future San Antonio Spurs pick Victor Wembanyama is of utmost importance. That's no question.
The bigger query — in the same realm of thinking — however, relates less to how important keeping the 7-4 big man is, and more to the way the Spurs will go about it.
How many private trainers and team doctors will be needed? After all, the Spurs are putting almost all of their chips on the table for the 19-year-old.
Metropolitans 92 — Wembanyama's current team in France — found the answer, though it was much simpler than one would think. Overseas, Wembanyama works primarily with just one man, Guillaume Alquier, before and after games to keep his body in prime form.
ESPN's Jeremy Woo set out to find out exactly what it was that Wembanyama's trainer did to keep the center healthy throughout the entirety of his LNB Pro A season, which started long before the games began.
"The most important thing is to have strength in the legs," Alquier said. "[That helps] to produce force to play basketball ... to play inside, to play [defense], post up and everything [else]. After that, you have core activation, and the last thing is the prevention stuff — trying to do the best thing to be healthy all the time during the season."
Together, Alquier and Wembanyama accomplished their goal, as the 19-year-old never missed a game this season. But while the credit can easily go to the trainer, who helps Wembanyama keep up a strong routine, Alquier credited Wembanyama himself for his favorable health.
"I saw in the first minute we met he was very active on his own [health]," Alquier said.
Being as tall as he is, for Wembanyama to care about his own health as much as the Spurs will presents a huge positive for the future partnership. Injuries have plagued the young San Antonio squad already, making a healthy Wembanyama that much more essential to the Spurs' development next season and beyond.
Especially in the NBA, where games are nearly three times as frequent as in France, durability will quickly become a focus for Wembanyama.
"The [previous] season was difficult for Victor because [there] was a lot of trips," Alquier said. "[He had] a lot of games [and was] on the road all the time, so it was difficult to develop, to be good on the court and to recover as well. [That's why], for me, this year [has been] optimal. [He has] one game a week, one day off after the game ... so it [eliminates] a lot of the stress."
That stress will come back, but then again, living the "easy life" was never a guarantee for Wembanyama — especially being the highest touted prospect since "The Chosen One" made his NBA debut in 2003.
But if he carries anything with him to the NBA and San Antonio, it's likely to be the strange routine he does pre-game. One that keeps him healthy, and one that nobody but him will understand, though its importance is unequivocal.
Then again, nobody else in the league is quite like Wembanyama ... and the Spurs are about to find out why, especially if he proves to be as durable as he has been.
"[Wembanyama] wants to improve," Alquier said. "He's really focused, trying to understand everything [we do]. ... His body is not finished, so the principal part of my work is to [help him] adapt."
The 2023 NBA Draft is set for Thursday, June 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Once Wembanyama is officially drafted by the Spurs, his NBA journey will begin, with all eyes on him and his October regular-season debut.
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