Why the ‘Villain’ Label During NBA Playoffs Didn’t Bother Victor Wembanyama at All

“Can I ask you a question,” wonders Victor Wembanyama.

It’s not often that athletes turn the tables and go from interviewee to interviewer. Then again, it’s not often that NBA players who stand 7' 4" and are able to dunk without the inconvenience of jumping also can dribble the length of the court before throwing a no-look pass, or set up silky three-pointers with killer crossovers. So when Victor Wembanyama began a recent Q&A session for 60 Minutes, with a “Q” of his own, it scanned as on-brand. And what did Wemby want to know?

“Have you ever been to Buenos Aires?”

Taken slightly aback, your intrepid correspondent answered tentatively. “Yes. Why?”

With the kind of sheepishness lesser players reserve for, say, air-balling a free throw or committing a sloppy fourth-quarter turnover, the Spurs’ star center lowered his head and shamefacedly admitted that—wait for it—he has never ventured south of the equator.

He’s looking forward to going, though. And in advance of this maiden trip, he’s canvassing for recommendations. He’s “heard good things” about Buenos Aires and now seeks confirmation.

To traffic in understatement, this is not the usual dialogue one has with a global superstar athlete. But it’s not unusual dialogue for Victor Wembanyama, a man of insatiable curiosities. This is a player who doesn’t drink, doesn’t even stay up late, whose greatest extravagance is not a sports car or mansion but … a private trip to Alaska during the last All-Star break so he could glimpse the Northern Lights in person. When he is not reading his beloved fantasy novels, he is playing chess in public parks. In the rain. He’s trained with Shaolin monks in China and is known to bring art supplies on team flights.

His nom-de-hoops, “The Alien,” nods to his otherworldly size and otherworldly skills. But as nicknames go, it couldn’t be further off. Wemby is very much—maybe singularly—of this world, eager to explore every corner and every dimension of planet earth.

After swapping travel tips, he spent this 60 Minutes session not in answer mode but in conversation mode, pinballing from the virtues of walking barefoot, to his embarrassment of “beating the s---” out of opponents in the NBA Finals, to his joy he experienced hosting his teammates in Paris over the summer. All this at 22, his precocious age every bit as extraordinary as his physique and basketball skill set.

About that basketball skill set: Wemby begins this, his fourth season, both established as a generational player and very much a work in progress. Last year he won Defensive Player of the Year honors, the first unanimous winner in NBA history. He finished third in the MVP voting.

Yet, by his own admission, his offensive arsenal needs expanding. He is a few months removed from leading San Antonio to the Western Conference finals and then retreating against the Knicks. He is positioned to be the face of the league as LeBron James (age 41) and Steph Curry (38) are squarely in the one-year contract phases of their careers; yet has some image rehab work to do after dispensing cheap shots in the playoffs. All part of the process.

In basketball terms, let’s clear out and let Wemby go to work.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

JON WERTHEIM: You didn't just dream of playing in the NBA, you learned English in part because you thought it would make your life easier when you got to the NBA.

VICTOR WEMBANYAMA: Absolutely.

JW: Now that you're here, how much does it align with what you had imagined as a kid?

VW: The NBA?

JW: Yeah.

VW: It’s everything that I imagined. I think as an NBA player, if you're among the stars of this league, you really can make your career whatever you want to make it. You can choose to be, of course—everything. You always gotta do your best on the court, the best that you can. But on the side, you can choose to be the influencer. You can choose to be the philanthropist. You can choose to be the guy that's gonna promote gambling and alcohol. You can choose whatever you want. So it's really everything that I imagined.

JW: Okay, you have all these options. If someone said, “What did you choose?” What would you say?

VW: My choice isn't final because I'm still growing as a person. But I want to promote healthy things and healthy—I don't mean just the food, but—healthy habits, things that make people’s lives better and things that make society better, hopefully.

JW: You were born after the Spurs had already started winning championships. When you were a kid, what was your impression of this franchise, this organization?

VW: The franchise with the greatest coach of all time, the franchise with the big French history as well. And a winner's franchise, you know?

JW: You're talking about Gregg Popovich, who you played for and got very close to. What's the most important thing he ever told you?

VW: Hard to say. One lesson that often comes up is about humility. He often said something when we were in film: “After a win you're rarely as good as you thought you were, and after a loss you're rarely as bad as you thought you were.”

JW: Last year in the NBA Finals you were portrayed as a villain. Correct me if I'm wrong, I didn't get the feeling that bothered you.

VW: No, it didn't because I'm not paying attention to this during the Finals. And I don't think any player on either team really is. This is not our main concern right now, what we're being portrayed as.

JW: I wondered if you didn't show, “Hey, this is part of my character too. This is a new part of my identity. This is, you know, Edgy Wemby,” whatever it is. But you showed a new side of yourself.

VW: I don't think that's on purpose. I think [I] showed my limits more than anything else. … Really going out there, you need to play basketball. You don't need to beat the s--- out of people. If you want to win, at least.

JW: You hosted a team trip to France. What did you want to show your teammates about your country, your culture?

VW: I wanted to show them the refinement at times, but also how I would take care of them. Because it really matters to me. It did more for me than for them that they came.

JW: Why?

VW: I don't know, I just take it very—it goes straight to my heart.

JW: The Jackals [the San Antonio fan group, à la French football that Wemby created], what's the vibe you're going for?

VW: I think the vibe I'm going for is, with time, to become something intimidating, something powerful in the community, something inspiring as well, because it feels like we're in a new era of the Spurs.

There's been different momentums over the years, and it feels like we now have a young core. We shouldn't be a lottery team anytime soon, after being a lottery team for some years, we're in a new era. It feels like fandom for the Spurs deserves also a new era, you know? And a new level of involvement. And I want to allow the fans that want to to be involved like this. And if I can show them a little bit of what I've seen, what I've experienced firsthand [in France], if they're in on it, let's go. We're gonna become, like, the PSG Ultras one day. One thing at a time, but this is what I'm going for.

JW: Jordan was 28 when he won his first title, LeBron 27. What's your relationship with patience?

VW: Love/hate relationship.

JW: Say more.

VW: I think the best thing to do is to have patience while trying to fight it as well. Basically, you're trying to take all the lessons that patience can bring you while trying to prove it wrong at the same time and say, “there's no reason I would wait,” you know?

JW: What do you say when friends and family in France ask, "What's it like living in the U.S.?"

VW: My answer is always, “Well, I don't know, because I don't live a normal life in the U.S.” I live the life of an athlete, of a rich person, the life of somebody that's gonna have everything taken care of, no matter what I do, really. So it's not the life of the regular American. But it's the best country to be an athlete in.

JW: You acknowledge you don't live a typical existence here. But even so, what about this country has struck you?

VW: Good or bad?

JW: One of each.

VW: Good is how it feels like you're never judged for being ambitious. Bad? I would say, I think the social interactions are more shallow here, not as in-depth as what I've seen in other countries.

JW: Was there a moment when you said, “I don't wanna be guarded anymore?”

VW: Yeah, there is. I think the condition I had, early 2025, the thrombosis, it's had a huge, huge impact on this. So after that it's like, life is so short, I don't ever wanna waste it being somebody else, you know? Simple as that.

JW: You were upfront last year. “I should've won the MVP.” You made a strong case. I'm guessing your views haven't changed on that.

VW: You should've won the MVP?

JW: That's what you said.

VW: Did I?

JW: Should you have won the MVP last year?

VW: No. I should win it this year, though.

PODCAST 🎧: Listen to SI’s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.

Add us as a preferred source on Google