A 7-9 French Giant? Solving the Mystery Behind Victor Wembanyama's Height
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When it comes to the San Antonio Spurs' likely No. 1 pick in the draft, Victor Wembanyama, there are a lot of unknowns:
How will he fare against some of the top NBA defenders? Will he be able to remain healthy through 82 games? Is he really the best prospect since LeBron James?
While a few of those concerns sit atop the Spurs' list regarding their decision to draft the French phenom, the answers to them will have to wait until his official debut — which could come as early as July. Even then, there's a chance that finding out how legitimate Wembanyama really is could take weeks or months into the season to truly gauge.
But above it all — literally and figuratively — is one question about the 19-year-old center that has fans, scouts and analysts in a row with one another:
How tall really is Victor Wembanyama?
A quick Google search will tell you that answer in less than a second — 0.51 seconds to be exact — and would likely leave no doubt in your mind, seeing as how reliable the most popular search engine tends to be:
Victor Wembanyama / Height
7'2"
A further look on the interweb, however, and you might find a different answer or two ... or three.
Numerous sites below the initial result list the future No. 1 pick as 7-5, while others list him at 7-4 or 7-3, one site even going as far as to declare Wembanyama 7-9, which would make his ability to play basketball at the NBA level highly improbable.
The answer to the center's height seems to be "up for discussion," which wouldn't normally create such a stir, if he wasn't the No. 1 prospect of the last two decades.
Either way, there is a clear answer, though it might just require a little bit more research. On an ESPN broadcast prior to the regular season, Wembanyama spoke out on the matter, and gave viewers a unique perspective regarding the mystery of his height.
"In France we measure [barefoot]," Wembanyama said. "I'm 7-3 [barefoot]. I've never actually measured myself with shoes on, but it's got to be like 7-4 or 7-5, I guess."
Even the 19-year-old himself seems to be a little unsure of his height on the basketball court, which is the metric that matters, seeing as no NBA defender will be guarding him inside his San Antonio home.
But he's 7-3 without shoes on ... that's a start.
According to his Euro Basket profile, which serves as the most official record of his season with Metropolitans 92, Wembanyama measures 224 centimeters on the basketball court.
Converting that to the imperial system, and he's 7-3 and change, rounding to 7-4.
That measurement was likely taken prior to the season as well, leaving room for the center to grow throughout the year and up to draft night later this month, which will see Wembanyama getting his official NBA measurement — as he already missed the combine due to Metropolitans 92 being in the LNB Pro A playoffs.
So when that measurement comes in, the mystery will be put to rest once and for all, and hopefully all of the internet can finally agree on a set number. Until then, 7-4 it is.
Either way, Wembanyama will likely become one of the NBA's tallest centers, and could be the most impactful at his height if he pans out in the way that San Antonio hopes he can.
The 2023 NBA Draft is set for Thursday, June 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Coverage on ESPN will begin at 7 p.m. CST, when the Spurs are set to pick first overall.
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