Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have won his second straight NBA MVP award, but it looks like Victor Wembanyama is genuinely establishing himself as the best basketball player in the world, not just in general but, more importantly, when it matters most.
In Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Monday, he produced 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks, and he took over in crunch time of the San Antonio Spurs’ double-overtime win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Spurs are now a serious threat not only to reach the NBA Finals but also to win it all, despite how young most of their key players are.
Wembanyama is already displaying not only the heart of a champion but also the dedication and work ethic of one. In a recent ESPN article, Ramona Shelburne detailed his intensive training this past summer at the Shaolin Temple in China, where he ran, hiked, meditated and even dribbled a basketball up a long and dangerous mountain hiking route.
If that wasn’t enough to reveal how badly he wants to become a legend among legends, his agent, Bouna Ndiaye, reportedly met with Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka to discuss and learn about the late great Kobe Bryant’s mindset and training regimen.
“Last April, he called Los Angeles Lakers general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, who represented Kobe Bryant for much of his career, and scheduled a lunch,” Shelburne wrote.
“The reason was simple.
“‘The way they think is different,’ Ndiaye told ESPN. ‘The way they play, the way they stretch themselves. Just their curiosity. How they study and watch things. They’re both very creative on how to solve a problem.'”
Ndiaye also said Wembanyama wants to be challenged, the way that true athletes and competitors want to be challenged, a quality Bryant had tons of.
“Mentally, physically, spiritually. Challenged in every way a supremely conditioned athlete who already pushes himself harder than most humans can be challenged.
“Pelinka listened while Ndiaye talked. He knew the type.
“Bryant used to do that, too, he told him. One summer Bryant had become obsessed with studying how great white sharks hunt and attack their prey. So it became Pelinka’s job to find him the best place in the world to do that — which is apparently Guadalupe, an island 150 miles off the coast of Baja, Mexico, where you can go cage diving in the crystal-clear waters.
“Bryant would later write in The Players’ Tribune in 2017 that his study of great whites helped him defend Allen Iverson.
“Then there was Bryant’s obsession with the Sistine Chapel. Pelinka arranged for him to travel there one summer for a private tour guided by an art historian.
“Bryant was fascinated by how Michelangelo had painted a three-dimensional masterpiece while lying on scaffolding in a space without abundant natural light, Pelinka told Ndiaye.
“The lesson was not about the techniques used but the vision and perseverance to create something extraordinary under impossible conditions.
“Ndiaye nodded along as Pelinka recounted these stories, both men delighting in the intellectual curiosity each of their star clients brought to their craft.
“‘I wanted to understand how Kobe did things,’ Ndiaye told ESPN. ‘So that we could learn from him. Victor is not like anybody else. We have to be creative to build programs that are unique to him.'”
It is said that true winners will do today what others aren’t willing to do so that they can have tomorrow what most will not have or get to enjoy. Bryant constantly did so, to the point where it made him seem alienated from others, especially earlier in his career. But it resulted in him winning five NBA championships and two Olympic gold medals, not to mention scoring more points than any other guard in league history.
With this type of overly developed work ethic and desire, the only thing that can stop Wembanyama from becoming one of the greatest athletes anyone has seen in any sport is health — and it looks like he’s doing what he can to get stronger and lower his risk of injury.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Victor Wembanyama’s agent met with Rob Pelinka to learn about Kobe
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
