{"id":1894907,"date":"2026-04-21T19:10:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1894907"},"modified":"2026-04-21T19:10:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T16:10:18","slug":"victor-wembanyama-remembers-the-time-a-youth-coach-said-he-cant-play-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1894907","title":{"rendered":"Victor Wembanyama remembers the time a youth coach said \u2018he can\u2019t play defense\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Victor Wembanyama never speaks at pregame shootarounds. Some people in his circle say they haven\u2019t called him on a game day in all the years they\u2019ve known him. Before games, he quietly prepares to take the floor, closing his eyes and meditating, trying to block out the endless external noise that will only grow louder as his star shines brighter.<\/p>\n

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But Tuesday morning, before Game 2 of the San Antonio Spurs\u2019 series against the Portland Trail Blazers, Wembanyama sat at the podium at a time he never had before. At 11:33 a.m., Wembanyama, in his first pregame news conference since joining the Spurs, reflected on becoming the first unanimous NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner<\/a> in league history.<\/p>\n

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It brought him back to a moment when he wasn\u2019t an all-world defender, which, of course, was a long time ago. When he was a 14-year-old at the basketball academy in France, he had a reputation for not playing defense. He said that stuck with him.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe opponents\u2019 coach said, \u2018He may be a prospect, but he can\u2019t play defense, so attack him,\u2019\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cMy teammates and my coach told me that the coach said that.\u201d<\/p>\n

A reporter then joked, \u201cYou took that personally,\u201d referring to Michael Jordan\u2019s famous quote from \u201cThe Last Dance\u201d documentary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took that personally,\u201d Wembanyama responded with a laugh. \u201cAnd the rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n

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At that moment, Spurs forward Keldon Johnson stepped into the media gathering and raised his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I have a question,\u201d Johnson said after Wembanyama called on him. \u201cHow does it feel to not only be the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, but the only unanimous Defensive Player of the Year?\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson soon found out that his question was actually the first one asked in the news conference, resulting in a back and forth that ended with Wembanyama asking for a hug.<\/p>\n

As Johnson finished the hug and began to walk away, he said, as he often does, \u201cBest player in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wembanyama responded with \u201cSixth Man of the Year,\u201d referencing the award that will be handed out Wednesday. Johnson is one of three finalists, along with Miami\u2019s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Denver\u2019s Tim Hardaway Jr.<\/p>\n

These days, few people are questioning Wembanyama\u2019s ability to defend. Everyone who voted for the award agreed: The big man certainly can play defense.<\/p>\n

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To commemorate the award, Nike released a 45-second ad with the tagline \u201cHe Blocks Among Us,\u201d referencing Wembanyama\u2019s nickname, \u201cThe Alien.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A dominant presence walks this planet. Here’s proof. @wemby<\/a> is your first-ever unanimous Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com\/svVTVAPSBF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) April 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In response, the official NASA account<\/a> posted to X: \u201cOn this planet or out in the universe, Wemby defends.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Victor Wembanyama never speaks at pregame shootarounds. Some people in his circle say they haven\u2019t called him on a game day in all the years they\u2019ve known him. Before games, he quietly prepares to take the floor, closing his eyes and meditating, trying to block out the endless external noise that will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1894907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1894907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1894907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1894907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1894907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1894907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}