'These Are Systemic Inequalities': Why Wembanyama Supports Student Protesters in France

The Spurs superstar is showing solidarity with a student-led movement that is demanding increased funding for schools amid a violent crackdown by police.

Oct 8, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half against the Atlanta Hawks at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

SAN ANTONIO — Spurs star Victor Wembanyama is showing solidarity with student protesters in his home country of France as they fight for improvements to the country's education system.

Demonstrators blockaded schools and took to the streets demanding changes to a system with teacher shortages and crumbling infrastructure, among other problems. Police have arrested thousands and injured many, mainly high school students, drawing condemnation from human rights groups for their use of force.

Wembanyama commented on social media that he would love to join the protests, and spoke more about it on Thursday after the Spurs' preseason opener against the Hawks.

"I was in that that position not so long ago," Wembanyama said. "I've had the chance to escape this system, escape this trouble, but it's chance, it's luck. I want to show my support."

The student-led movement seeks to increase teacher pay to address the shortage, and calls attention to underfunded schools that are often hot in the summer, cold in the winter, short on chairs, and infested with pests.

A protest that started in September at one school in a suburb southeast of Paris has spread to thousands since. Suburbs in France tend to be more densely populated and less affluent than American suburbs, and they've played a big role in the long history of French people demonstrating for better living conditions. Wembanyama grew up in a suburb on the west side of Paris, where he saw similar problems and protests against them.

“I went to high school in Nanterre, and it was already a stronghold of blockades back then," he said in French, according to L'Equipe's Maxime Aubin. "It’s a situation I was lucky enough to escape, problems I’m fortunate enough to no longer experience."

Victor Wembanyama s'exprime sur les manifestations lycéennes en France : « Je suis content que les lycéens et les jeunes en général se fassent entendre. Parce que moi, je les entends et je les soutiens, et j'espère que les gens qui sont tout là-haut en feront de même ». pic.twitter.com/PtAfpcnlpu

— Maxime Aubin (@MaximeAubin1) October 9, 2026

As of Wembanyama's comments French police have arrested over 6,000 demonstrators, mostly under the age of 18. According to the Associated Press police have maimed several minors with "less lethal" weapons since the start of the protests.

Prosecutors allege that police partially blinded a 16-year-old with a riot-control round. An officer was charged after shooting a tear gas grenade directly at the face of a 14-year-old boy, shattering his jaw. After a police stun grenade blew off the hand of a 15-year-old boy, the Interior Minister announced that police would no longer use that particular model of grenade against high schoolers.

The protests have become a flashpoint in France, where next year voters will choose their next president between opposite ends of the political spectrum. Wembanyama said over the summer that he hadn't looked into the presidential election closely enough yet, but he's not afraid to share his opinions either. Last week he spoke out against athletes advertising sports gambling, and last year after ICE killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis he spoke clearly against state violence.

"Every day I wake up and see the news, and I’m horrified," he said. "I think that it's crazy that some people might make it seem like, or make it sound like it’s acceptable, like the murder of civilians is acceptable."

At the time he admitted that as a foreign national he may be at an increased risk when he speaks out, but that's not going to stop him from speaking his mind. He may not be able to take to the streets in Paris, but as maybe the most famous Frenchman in America he's using his enormous platform to bring attention to the problems in his home country and the movement to address them.

"These are systemic inequalities, problems so deep-seated that I’m actually glad high school students and young people in general are making their voices heard," Wembanyama said in French. "Because I hear them and I support them, and I hope that the people way up there will do the same."