Victor Wembanyama: The 60 Minutes Interview

San Antonio Spurs star center Victor Webbyama is known as the alien, a nod to his supernatural size and supernatural basketball skills. At 7'4, Webyama can dunk without jumping. Yet, he also can freeze defenders with his ball handling, drain three-pointers, and he is the NBA's reigning defensive player of the year. But as nicknames go, the alien misses the mark like a clunky jump shot in that WBY, there's your nickname, is a man making the most of his earthly minutes. He comes from France, plays pickup chess in Manhattan parks, and trains at Chinese monasteries. With LeBron James turning 42 and Steph Curry now 38, WBY, aed 22, is the new face of the NBA. We dropped in on him this preseason and found that while he may be best known for his height and length, it's nothing compared to his depth. >> Basketball has seen tall, basketball has seen talent. >> Hello. >> Hey, John.

>> Basketball has never seen Victor Wanyama's holy matrimony of size and skill. >> And yet, his favorite play hinges on his teammates. What part of basketball specifically brings you the greatest joy? >> I think Alioops in particular. [screaming] >> Ali a team player and also a dunk. >> I like Alioops. >> It's like a telepathy. >> Yeah, exactly. >> Then again, here's a player who can eliminate the middleman and Alioop himself. We hammer steps through. EVERYBODY, THROWS IT TO HIMSELF. >> YEAH. So it goes for Wembby. Big men aren't supposed to shoot like this, much less dribble like this. It's devastating offense meets demoralizing defense. >> Oh my goodness.

Spiked into the 15th ring. >> No one's ever played a game like you. No one has had your combination of size and skill set. There's no blueprint here. So, how are you figuring out true >> how to train, how to pace yourself, how to even envision your career when no one's done it before you? >> It's true. It is a uh difficulty first of all because of the player than I am, but also being a foreigner here, growing up in totally different environments and uh I think the key is being comfortable not knowing, being comfortable finding out my own answers. Are you comfortable? >> I am comfortable not knowing my answers. I am comfortable walking through the fog. >> What's it like when you make it through the fog? When you figure something out? >> Those brief moments where my head peaks through and sees the sun. Yeah, they're great. Last year, there was this I think the month of February. We didn't lose a single game. This is these moments where everything clicks. You know, [cheering] >> the Spurs kept clicking through the spring, thanks largely to Webyama's heroics from midcourt.

>> San Antonio beat the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the Western Conference, but then despite being favored in the finals, they lost in five games to the New York Knicks. By his own admission, WebMyamo was far from his best, not least because of this pick on someone your own size cheap shot against Nick star Jaylen Brunson. >> Excuse me, that should be a flagrant one. >> Last year in the finals, you were portrayed as a villain. Correct me if I'm wrong. I didn't get the feeling that bothered you. >> No, it didn't because it's I'm not paying attention to this during the finals. I don't think any player on either team really is. I wondered if you didn't show, hey, this is part of my character, too. Edgy, WBY, whatever it is, but you showed a new side of yourself. >> It showed my limits more than anything else. Going out there, you need to play basketball. You don't need to beat the out of people if you want to win at least.

>> Forward number one, Victor. That self-awareness comes from someone just starting his fourth NBA season and scary for the rest of the league just clearing his throat. He first appeared on scouts radars as a young teen, a bright prospect from France. The son of a former track athlete, dad Felix 6'6, and a former basketball player mother LOD 6'3, WBY was the most anticipated rookie since LeBron James 20 years earlier. It was a given he would be the top pick in the 2023 draft. >> Howdy, y'all. This is Remy. We're in San Antonio. Now, >> the jump from the Paris suburbs to central Texas and one of the NBA's smallest markets might be a considerable one, please. For Webby, it was the perfect pairing of player and franchise. >> The franchise with the greatest coach of all time. The franchise with a a big French history as well.

>> Yeah. Just a winning a winner's franchise, you know, >> greatest coach of all time. You're talking about Pop. Yeah. >> Talking about Greg Papovit, who you played for and got very close to. What's the most important thing he ever told you? >> One lesson that often comes up is uh 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. >> Papovic suffered a stroke and retired from coaching in 2025, but not before leading San Antonio to five NBA titles. The Spurs also nurtured two all-time centers and a bevy of international stars. Amid all that history, Wemi still stands out. Starting with the unique way he trains. After a blood clot in his shoulder shut down his second season, Webidyama doubled down on his conditioning. We found him to be preoccupied, obsessed even with the ground level, that is his feet. He told us they hold the key not just to his mobility but his entire career.

because uh big men have always had feet problems and uh I also find more and more that feet are responsible for so much more that goes on. It's funny because I was just talking to a rookie. I went to the to practice barefoot and he sees me walking without shoes and he was like, "I didn't know you could just not wear shoes." >> An evangelist for going barefoot, WBY went to work converting us. I try to walk barefoot as much as I can and wear minimalistic shoes. Those aren't minimalist. Those are maximalist. Those got a thick sole. You know, they're looking nice though if you want to. They look very nice. >> But these are what you wear. Just go really easy on the feet. You're not going to p them. Then you just slip those for 60 minutes interviews. >> His shoe size, as you're likely wondering 20. >> Basically, you need to you need to strengthen your feet. and what shoes do, like shoes like yours for example, they don't respect the natural shape of the foot. >> When he was done insulting my favorite pair of shoes, he concluded his dissertation.

>> If you got a good foot strength, which brings a good foot posture, everything else can develop the right way. Knee, hip, and back, everything. >> You appreciate that. Never mind athletes, not all people have your level of curiosity. Yeah, it's the defining trait of mine. >> In the summer of 2025, Curiosity took him to China where he went to live, learn kung fu, and meditate alongside Buddhist monks. >> How'd you do with it? >> Uh, it was hard be because they pushed it to the next level. It was really hard. I think the first very first day it was an hour 40 of meditation, silence to complete silence. It was crazy. It was really hard. You've never done anything like that? >> Nothing close to that. >> What was the longest you could go meditating? >> I was probably locked in for 30 minutes >> and then an hour and a half wondering how much longer is it going to go on for? Yeah.

>> Someone told me you meditate briefly in between free throws. >> You could call that meditation, I guess. >> Where do your thoughts go? I think centering back uh you know thinking that it's it's at the end of the day just a regular shot because when you try to make it too technical it becomes like a robot. >> You're trying to think about nothing or think about something very specifically >> nothing for a second and then focusing on making the shot. >> You know your free throw percentage >> 82 say it was like 82%. You're doing something right. >> Could be better. >> Not by much. Historically, NBA centers have averaged less than 70%. [cheering and applause] This past summer, Wemi returned to France where, no surprise, he's wildly popular. We joined him in Nter, the district outside Paris, where he was first spotted as a teenager. He runs an annual tournament here that combines his sport with another of his curiosities. He popped in for a game of one-on-one with a fellow prodigy. This one age nine >> as opponents go. How tough was Louise?

>> Was she the last one with the glasses? >> Yeah, >> she was she was tough. >> The New York Knicks needed five games to beat WBY Louise 16 minutes. [applause] >> Explain the basketball chess overlap. Is there a basketball chess overlap? >> Yes, there is. I find that chess is a lot about decision- making and that looks like basketball a lot at least in theory because there are some theoretical good moves. >> We got bullsh on three. 1 2 3. >> On the same trip home, he hosted his Spurs teammates first on the court, then on the send. >> What did you want to show them about your country, your culture? I wanted to show them, you know, the the refinement at times, but also how I I I would take care of them, you know, because it's uh it it really matters to me. But it it did more for me than for them that they came because >> because I don't know, I just take it very it goes straight to my heart.

>> What about the reverse? When friends and family in in France say, "What's it like living in the US?" When they ask me what's what it's like to live in the US, my answer is always, well, I don't know because I don't live a normal life in the US. I live the life of an athlete, of a a rich person, uh, you know, the life of somebody that's going to have everything taken care taken care of, you know, no matter what I do really. So, it's not it's not the life of an the regular American, but um, it's is the best country to be an athlete in. You acknowledge you don't live a typical existence here, but but even so, what about this country has struck you? >> Good or bad? >> One of each. >> Good is how like you never it feels like you're never judged for being ambitious. Bad I would say uh I think the social interactions are more shallow here, more not as in-depth as u what I've seen in other countries. Shortly after we visited with Wemban, Texas, student protests broke out in his home country.

>> "I hear them and I support them," he said of the students. "This cander is part of the Webby deal. Double teamed yet unguarded, unafraid to display emotion, and he can trace the origin." >> Was there a moment when you said, "I don't want to be guarded anymore?" >> Uh, yeah, there is. I think [snorts] the the the condition I had early 2025, the thrombosis, it's uh had a hu huge impact on this. >> He's referring to that blood clot which changed his outlook. >> After that, it's like life's so short. I don't I don't even want to waste it being somebody else, you know? Simple as that. >> The new NBA season is less than two weeks old. The league's new face and tallest starting player comes with outsized ambitions both for his team >> and for himself.

>> You were upfront last year. I should have won the MVP. You made a strong case. I'm guessing your your views haven't changed on that. >> You should have won the MVP. >> That's what you said. >> Did I? >> Should you have won the MVP last year? >> Uh, no. I should win it this year though.