Victor Wembanyama spent his summer last year fortifying his mind and body. He visited a Shaolin temple and worked with monks to get his mind right when it came to basketball.
His visit paid off. He and the San Antonio Spurs became one of the most exciting teams in the league last season, reaching the NBA Finals, where they lost to the New York Knicks.
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The Spurs star also achieved several personal milestones. Unlike in 2025, he was able to finish the season healthy, earning a spot in the All-Star Game, being named to the All-NBA First Team, and winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award unanimously.
He is already regarded as one of the Top 5 players in the league, according to several rankings from sports publications. However, critics believe he can still get better.
One thing he could do is bulk up.
LaVar Ball has a different opinion. He believes Wembanyama does not need to get bigger because adding too much weight could diminish some of his other strengths. The celebrity father of LaMelo Ball urged the Spurs star to stick to his style of play.
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“It don’t matter if he gained 30 pounds. If he can’t run, it don’t matter. His game has to stay the same. So he could eat and gain weight. But if not, you see, he don’t get injured like that because he don’t have a lot of weight,” Ball said.
Ball added that Wemby is effective at what is doing right now.
“That’s not his game [posting up]. Now he can come at you a–s and take a Euro step and cover 30 feet. So don’t start doing that now. He can shoot the three. He’s agile, he is long enough to block the shot where you don’t need the body.”
Wembanyama recently joined the French national basketball team for the FIBA World Qualifiers. France recorded wins over Luka Doncic-less Slovenia and Sweden to stay at the top of Group L, which will mean qualification for the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar.
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He was dominant in both victories, but one thing many people noticed was his different frame. ESPN posted a picture of Wembanyama from 2023 side by side with a picture from this year, suggesting that he has gotten bigger.
People are not convinced though. They think he only got more toned muscles and that he aged.
NBA players getting bigger can be effective. Best example is Giannis Antetokounmpo went from being skinny to a very dominant big man on the paint. He went on to win two MVPs, one DPOY, and an NBA title in 2021.
