Victor Wembanyama started to tear up after his first answer of his press conference and then said, “I’m sorry, I lost somebody today.” He took one more question before leaving.
It’s crazy because you could literally see him feeling a bit down when he was on the bench. I thought he was just meditating but he probably was trying to manage all the various emotions going on right now.
I hope he feels better, but man that’s so difficult :(
He’s so young and dealing with a vast amount of pressure 24⁄7
I also saw him praying? At least it looked like it and I didn’t think much of it, but I did find it weird because he’s almost always fired up on the bench. Tough to see.
His grandmother passed away.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/gN4E5q1jci
Man 😢
Sorry to hear that, best to him and his family 🙏
That’s tough, man. My grandmother was the matriarch of my family and we lost her when I was around Wemby’s age and it really wrecked us all for a while. I was just a college student with a part time job at the time, I couldn’t imagine processing with the loss of a close family member while juggling the responsibilities of being a star athlete.
Damn, that’s terrible.
Feel so bad for the dude having to play through it.
Yeah, he definitely had his hands together as if praying 🙏 while on the bench in the second half I think.
during one of the free throws he was closing his eyes for a few seconds and was breathing out heavily before shooting. i thought that was his normal routine but maybe not? but yeah generally i thought he looked down on the bench and wasn’t celebrating as much as he usually did
I think that is his normal free throw routine.
Probably, because I saw him do it against OKC in crunch time.
he usually does that, especially in high-stakes situations
Thats just what he does every time
Dude I seen him on the bench and I literally thought to myself is he doing some monk type shit meditating
I had the same exact thought
thought he was just meditating
Same, lol. I was like, “is he doing some shaolin monk shit right now?”
Before this clip he spoke a little bit with a french journalist and he said “j’ai perdu quelqu’un de tres proche” so its someone really close to him probably either family or really good friend.
Also before that the french journalist ask him if he can find something positive in that defeat and wemby answer “No, not at all, but it’s… it has nothing to do with that—I’m going through a tough time because I lost someone very close to me today so no, I don’t see the positive right now.”
It was his grandmother :(
Fuck, that happened to me recently, and I can’t imagine having to go and play basketball on national television and then having to go and seat for the media to ask questions about the game.
Yeah, your head is all over the place when you lose somebody, can’t imagine being the main attraction on such a big game and then still having to do press. Couldn’t the spurs protect the kid and have someone else go?
Got a feeling the spurs don’t know about this, too. I think Wemby kept it within him.
Maybe but I doubt it. Dude clearly wasn’t well, I don’t think there is a chance no one noticed and asked about it. If he goes public with this information on press, I’m almost certain he talked about it behind doors
Maybe he wanted to be strong about it and forced himself to go as the leader, but I feel that protecting him would the be priority
Brave young man still went to the press questionnaire way stronger than I. I Lost mine last year this very week. I went on a bender for months.
Edit. Just fyi. I’ve since been in AA and have 150 days sobriety.
I’m sorry for your loss, and I hope you’re doing well. 150 days is impressive, one day at a time friend :)
I hope you’re doing okay friend
Ouch. Thats the first big death many young men witness. No one replaces grandma
Man my dumbass thought the journalist asked if there was something positive in his loss and I was about to rage fr
“So, Mrs Lincoln…”
english is my second langauge so this is my frist time seeing this, i imagine its a reference to the wife of lincol after the play where he was killed? thats a good one ngl
Yeah, the usual full line is “other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?”
I would crash tf out if someone said that to me 😭😭😭
I saw him eyes closed and palms together in the beginning of the 3rd quarter looking not into the game. Now I know why, I’m sorry for his loss.
Yeah I saw this and was pretty confused by how utterly miserable he looked considering the game was so competitive. He looked like he actually did NOT want to be there. This explains it, dude must have been going thru it.
Yeah, the difference in his energy/demeanor between this game and the OKC game was night and day. I just thought he was feeling sick or something
Man this is actually a good reason to let somebody sit out for “personal reasons”.
If it was a normal game he probably would’ve. It especially sucks that it was one like this that he really likely didn’t want to skip.
It can actually be good to force yourself to go to work on days like this, just to keep yourself going while you’re processing things and to have something to focus on to stop you from spiralling. Maybe it was the same for Wemby
Definitely a YMMV thing. One person might do what you said and fucking snap on a coworker and get canned. The next person might stay at home and have dark thoughts in their despair.
In my opinion, the answer is to truly know yourself. If you lose someone and you need to go sit with your mom for a whole day and just let her tell you it’s gonna be OK, do that. If you need to go to work to take your mind off of it for a little while, do that. Just don’t ever try to be too rigid with grief.
I’m not going to second guess any coaches decision but is this a game where Pop goes “Nope. Wemby is out. Personal reasons”?
Tbh, maybe. No one would blame him.
Saw him walk into the tunnel a minute before halftime too. Never seen him do that until now. As far as I’ve seen, he’s always been out there with his guys until the last second.
I think I know what you mean but he didn’t go into the tunnel. He kinda just stopped off to the side and was doing some leg exercises.
Ah, fair enough. Didn’t see him after that, so figured he walked all the way back.
Nah he did it on two separate occasions. First one he went into the tunnel, second one he just went close to the exit.
Saw the same. Honestly thought he was doing some kind of Shaolin meditation to focus after his rough start to the game. Now it all makes sense. I hope he and his family are okay.
i remember that exact moment. i thought he was just locking in but he looked like he was holding back tears
Yeah I didn’t trash talk him online but I was doing so mentally out of just fan frustration and now I still feel like garbage.
I love every armchair psychologist coming out of the woodwork trying to hyper analyze every moment of the game now lol.
not like it wasn’t noticed during the game
there were comments in the Spurs sub game thread about how Wemby looked completely out of it on the bench whenever the camera was on him
That’s awful. Putting his face out there and trying to show up for his team is brave. At times like these basketball should always take a backseat, but he probably still wanted to win for himself and his team.
Hopefully he can be with his loved ones and they can process what happened without the result weighting on him so he can be well again as soon as possible.
I was watching this press conference and thought he said “I lost some money today” and was like damn bro, he must really feel bad for the guys on two way contracts.
🤦♂️
😅Honestly even if that was what he said I’d have major respect, man of the people.
Does he have to take questions ?
Damn wait what
That throws a plot twist in this whole thing. Like damn, didn’t see that coming. Hope he’s doing okay mentally.
Y’all should start donating to his charities or something. I would if we ever won…anything
KAT donated his winnings to a DR charity. Does that count?
Kat is a top shelf human
Absolutely. There hasn’t been a single thing I’ve seen from him that would lead me to any other conclusion.
and after all that people still clown him
Why
Makes the clowning on him in the other thread a little weird.
I mean it’s just ignorance of the situation, no way they would’ve known.
Anyone saying he played like he didn’t even want to be there were ironically spot-on
I just saw a comment in the Knicks subreddit saying how he can only use that excuse 3 more times…classless as fuck fanbase but that isn’t exactly news to anyone.
all team subreddits are toxic, never go there expecting class and humility
His grandmother passed away
Source?
Edit: another thread with a post from an AP sports journalist on twitter https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1pop9dc/reynolds_victor_wembanyamas_grandmother_died/
Probably true then? I assume. Damn I wasn’t expecting to hear it was a close family member. What a gut punch
Where’d u see that
Confirmed
You guys should’ve seen the tweets right after the game about Wemby. Sports betting/gambling has turned people into freaking monsters when they normally wouldn’t be. I love Victor as a person and basketball player and honestly hope he’s alright. He should be home with family.
Edit: It turns out that it was his grandmother who had passed away. I feel so bad for him and hope he gets to France ASAP.
fuck man, my grandma was the shining star of my life
Dude my grandma and two aunts were basically my moms when I grew up, but mostly my grandma. I don’t know how devastated I’ll even feel if this happened to me. Feeling so bad for Wemby…
I had money on him on a play. Obviously losing a play sucks, and I’d love for my $5 entertainment to make money, but these guys are human. We all have bad days and we all deserve grace, especially when dealing with a loss. I hope he’s okay and he ones some peace
Well that’s cause you’re not a fucking idiot who bets thousands on these things and then get upset when you lose lol. Gambling addicts are the worst
I’m glad you’re sane and congratulations. Seriously. Also realize that prop bets are fucking toxic and should not be legal and I hope every sane person realizes their participation in that not only legitimizes the collective insanity of addictive gambling but puts undue pressure on the real people playing the game.
You want every sport to be as toxic and corrupt as boxing used to be? Keep up the props.
This one isn’t on gambling, it’s been a part of sports tribalism since sports has been a thing. Social media has made it easier for that tribalism to spew out into the world rather than being just within your close circle though.
.. yeah and also gambling shouldnt be legalized
nah unfortunately it is. i was in a discord where this news leaked before the game. everyone treated it like christmas and celebrated someones loss for their own gain.
if sports gambing wasn’t legal, we’d all be humans. instead a vast % of people will be happy / upset over this.
betting on his U;RPA, U;R, U;P, etc all woulda got +300 easily. people tripled their money or lost their money cause his grandma died
The betting world is full of hyenas that are just ready to tear you apart the moment you don’t win.
absolutely. I’ve been following the nba for 3 decades now. The increase in gambling ads is fucking disgusting. It’s never been this bad, not that anyone needed that to be pointed out for them. I work in the gaming industry, and people don’t understand how predatory all these gambling and gaming ads truly are on their actual psyche. It has people stuck in a cycle of dopamine fiending. Companies are more than happy to inflict this pain upon the population for profit
Well jesus, now I feel like an asshole.
You aren’t the only one.
I fully rescind my criticism of him for this game, hopefully other people can too
same
reading this thread after the game thread some of you genuinely need therapy
Imagine spending time online being hateful about shit. How fuckin pathetic of a life do you live to be like that.
i have a pretty pathetic life (as evidenced by my 1% commenter tag thing) and even i don’t go around spewing hate online…you kind of have to go out of your way. which makes it even more confusing
You mean people who are chronically online and have formed para social relationships with celebrities or social media influencers they don’t actually know anything about in real life might not be the most mentally and emotionally stable people?
i was mad confused at why he was playing so poorly (relatively speaking), we all were. must’ve been hard for him to make it through the game, poor guy
He took one more question before leaving
How do you ask questions as a reporter after he says that
A lot of these guys have someone to report to and their evil managers won’t take “Wemby started crying over the loss of someone close to him” as a legit reason for their reporters to stop asking their dumb questions
If anything, they will see it more of a reason to ask something
watch the full video. its not on the reporter at all.
Vic takes a question in French. responds. then you see this clip. reporter gets called on, doesnt speak until Vic says “ill take one more question, lets do it”.
the real shame is the person in the background(?), while Vic is crying in this clip, clapping his hands at the reporters not asking the question and saying “guys i dont have time”
https://youtu.be/BGDMGDDXk0w
Q: Victor, I know how much you hate losing, even so are you already able to see anything positive or any lessons to take from it? if you do what are they ? A: No, not at all, but it’s… it has nothing to do with that-I’m going through a tough time because I lost someone very close to me today so no, I don’t see the positive right now. Q: Did you find out before the game? A: nods Q: I’m sorry. A: Thanks.
He’s required to
Honestly Spurs should’ve never put him out there to answer questions
They shouldn’t have put him out there to play. He should have been on a plane instead. In fact if his gran had been declining he should have been on the plane last week.
Oh shit, poor kid. No wonder he seemed kind of out of it at various points in the game. Kudos to him for holding it together for his team, because that’s not an easy thing to do :(
that’s awful. has to suck to have a personal tragedy in the midst of media pressure
Good win tonight, thank you for the kind words
Now knowing this, I’m surprised the spurs/league put him in media duties. He clearly isn’t well (which is expected)
Can’t imagine trying to work in front of millions of people after losing a close loved one. Sure, the job is basketball, but all the players are human.
Best wishes to him and folks in his life that are hurting
I hope he’s okay
Whole nba hoping he’s okay
Buncha damn idiots in the other thread doing weird ass gotcha moments too. Hope you all feel dumb as fuck
Hope he’s all good. I like wemby
Great game tonight, my dude. Respect to the Knicks and good luck this year
I’ll take back my comments about his comments - and wish him and those close to him the best
I feel for him. Hope he finds peace and comfort <3
He didn’t go all the way back to the locker room, he was in the tunnel doing some exercises.
Yeah thanks. I edited my post.
Actually he went twice. First time I think he went all the way back. Second time he was doing stretches.
This day just keeps getting worse
You’d think the team/league would excuse him from doing a postgame presser. Let the guy go grieve with his family
Yes! OK, so there’s contractual obligations towards press conferences after performances and whatnot, but there needs to be exceptions. I didn’t watch the game but it sounds like he still played so he was still trying to be there for his team but he didn’t have to and he sure doesn’t owe anyone from the press any answers in a situation like this. Let the dude process things properly. Clearly it’s a private, difficult situation for him. The NBA needs to do better.
I feel for people who go through their jobs or school or whatever while fighting through the pain of loss. It’s tough. I bet he was trying to win it for the person he lost and that probably made it worse that they didn’t win the game.
I really feel for the guy. Sure, he wins a lot of money today, but that doesn’t change the fact that he lost a friend today. Coming from someone who has an unfortunately long list of dead friends, I feel for him.
Best wishes to you and Wemby breh
That’s tough, makes sense he wasn’t so pumped up unlike that OKC game
Terrible. My thoughts with him and the family of that person.
And the idiots in the post game thread were all using it as an opportunity to shit on him
bantering him because of the hype train aside…he’s a good guy and i hope he’ll persevere. performing through stress is not easy
Nevermind, that changes a lot
Damn bro, that’s rough. I thought its just an off night for a young player, which happens. But having to play a high intensity game in front of millions during a personal tragedy is awful.
I send my condolences to him, the spurs, and the fans who didn’t get a fair shot due to uncontrollables. His stats today show that he was affected by something and this was it.
As a Laker fan Tip of my hat on what he did it’s not easy playing when you lose someone which the focus is not 100% in the game, and not only that but to walk into a post game press conference it takes courage
Poor Vic. I know the feeling. Hope everything is alright.
Come home Wemby, San Antonio will wrap our arms around you.
Stay strong wemby
I think a lot of us fans take these guys for granted. Hes still a young kid with an actual life outside of giving us shit to speculate about every other night on reddit.
We love you, Vic.
Very true. We forget these players in any sport are humans too. They do have lives off of the court and fields.
Lol everyone switching up on how they feel about his performance now, NBA fans are a clown show.
Slaves to the moment, sports fans are
Better than doubling down tbh. Give props to people for changing their mind.
As is usual.
wtf…would it make you feel better if they doubled down? that you, Donald?
Tough
Honestly, even beyond the NBA, we all gotta normalize giving public figures (and people generally!) more time and space and resources for bereavement.
Goddamn that’s rough
Apparently it was his grandmother. I am really not looking forward to living in a world without my grandmother. I’m so sorry for him.
Can’t imagine playing a game after losing someone. It’s obvious that person was close to him. Prayers to Wemby and his family.
Aw man. That’s awful.
Victor Wembanyama learned Tuesday morning that his grandmother has passed away in France, a team source told @TheAthletic.
Wembanyama was in tears during his post-game press conference and said, “I’m sorry, I lost somebody today.”
Man…
Trying to work after the passing of someone close to you is actual hell. I can’t imagine trying to function the day of. I lost my brother 3 years ago and went back to work about 2 weeks after… I felt completely dissociated half the time and on the verge of tears the other half. I’m not sure how he even managed to try to play. Praying for him and his family.
well damn
Wait what?!
This is sad :(
Not even trying to dunk on anyone. Jokes are jokes. Its not that serious but if you were genuinely trying to dump on him with actual malice, this is an important reminder that you never know what burden someone is carrying that you dont see.
Never easy. My condolences big man.
He is a good guy
I’m sorry for his loss. I wish him the best.
You never know what people are going through
wtf man this is awful. I hope he and his family are okay
Losing someone is awful, but I can’t imagine being in his situation at 21 and dealing with it. Tough to dislike the man(even as a Knicks fan). And they still almost won if it wasn’t for Mitch and OG.
What a 180, 2 days ago I hated his guts and now I want to get on a stool and give him a hug
When did this person pass? Who was it? Who sent him to the podium? Geez, let the kid mourn in peace.
We hear about guys who turn their grief into masterpiece games, but the truth is you don’t know how someone is going to process the news until they’re forced to show it. Wemby probably had his mind everywhere but basketball, and that’s okay
Fuck man
damn that sucks. a lot of people were clowning on him on the performance thread. people shouldnt really jump to conclusions
Sorry his loss, but I’m out of the loop. Did anyone say who?
Damn. Respect to his family and friends
Who made this poor kid do media
The entire post game interview process is 100% unnecessary imo. I don’t know what other responses we expect from these people that isn’t just the stock “we played hard” kind of shit.
Coupled with the fact they’re forced to do that in situations like this and I’m just at a loss for words for who this is for. The entire pre, during, and post interviews to me are insanity.
He’s 8 feet tall, but he’s still a kid. People need to remember that.
That’s sad to hear!
Ah, man…
That’s awful to hear. Sorry he’s going through that. Feel for him
My heart man…
Ah, fuck man
Curious if he knew something when they did that silly red carpet intro, he looked distant
definetly puts more perspective on his performance today, thats really difficult..feel better vic
Thunder fans were being so toxic in the postgame thread (not that that’s any different from how they usually act). 24-2 defending champs and in their feelings about losing an NBA cup game is pathetic
Knicks fan here, RIP to his grandmother, condolences to his family. He showed tremendous heart to show up and fight for his team while going through a monumentally difficult time personally. All respect to the Spurs organization and its players.
damn i feel bad for him. Prayers and wish him the best
Now commenters, please take note of this and give the man a break. His head wasn’t fully in the game today. We’re all human, so no matter what you might say about being a professional or how much someone gets paid, you should be more than able to understand this.
Now all the trash talk isn’t fun anymore :(
That’s gotta be hard. What composure to go out and compete. Wish him well.
Most wholesome and understanding comments section I’ve seen in a while. Love to see it.
I can’t imagine how he feels.
Sorry for his loss
Death is very difficult to deal with
My grandfather died while I was abroad for work a few weeks. Now, he lived pretty far away, but having to perform and not having my family to talk to was pretty shit.
And I didn’t have that much money on the line. Or millions watching. Or opponents trying to physically stop me from doing my job.
I hope he gets to see his loved ones, hope he gets to say his farewells. Looking at him, he sure loved his grandma. She can’t have been anything but proud of what he’s done for himself.
aw damn. feel bad for the dude.
I hope he travels back for the funeral. He needs that closure
My condolences for his loss
Prayers for that gentleman. Losing a beloved grandparent is one the hardest times a person can know.
It takes a lot to cry in front of the world. During the national anthem I was wondering why he was so emotional, especially since he’s French lol.
Well damn. I could damn near bust out into tears everytime I think about my grandma. And she passed away 24 years ago.
Let him go home. Idc if he misses 5 more games. He deserves it. Dude just went out there and played while managing those emotions.
“Grief is the price we pay for love.” Thoughts with Wemba
Oh no
Rough
He’s the best man.
Oh well just make me feel like shit.
His game looked off. Positioning seemed off, seemed to not be looking where he should, calling plays and missing critical ball movements. Idk. 2nd game back, he’ll get back to it.
People clowning him in the game thread should feel shitty.
Yeah. I saw him praying, thought he was locking in. The loss doesn’t matter anymore. Bigger than basketball.
Well now I feel terrible