logo
Victor Wembanyama keeps a secret notebook for wisdom from NBA legends like Kevin Durant and LeBron James

Victor Wembanyama keeps a secret notebook for wisdom from NBA legends like Kevin Durant and LeBron James

Time of India22-06-2025
The San Antonio Spurs' centerpiece for the future, the 21-year-old French phenom Victor Wembanyama, has turned heads for how he approaches greatness. What's not often seen is his personal notebook, where he stores advice from
legends. The Spuers superstar recently shared that he is willing to note wisdom from active NBA legends, including Kevin Durant and
.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Victor Wembanyama quietly records advice from NBA greats like LeBron and Kevin Durant in a notebook
During a live taping of The Shop: Uninterrupted at Fanatics Fest in New York, Victor Wembanyama peeled back the curtain on a unique part of his process. 'I have a note on my phone with questions to ask the guys, KD [Kevin Durant], 'Bron [LeBron James],' he shared, sitting alongside LeBron James and NFL icon Tom Brady. 'I had the chance to talk to [Nikola] Jokić for 45 minutes at All-Star [weekend]. And I'm taking notes.' That moment gave fans a glimpse into how seriously the Spurs star studies the game and its greatest minds.
Wembanyama's hunger to learn doesn't end with casual conversation. 'When I'm told something, I don't forget it. It's super precious, for sure,' he added. That philosophy, combined with his freakish 7-foot-3 frame and raw talent, is what makes his ceiling so terrifyingly high.
Before a blood clot in his right shoulder ended his season prematurely, Wembanyama was averaging 24.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and a league-leading 3.8 blocks per game.
The setback raised concerns, but the support from peers like Durant has been heartfelt. 'I'm glad they caught this early,' Durant said after a Spurs win over his Suns. 'That can affect your overall health… I'm thinking about Vic… he's gonna put his best foot forward every day.
'
That mutual respect isn't one-sided. On Kevin Hart's Cold as Balls podcast, when asked if he's a big Durant fan, Wembanyama didn't hesitate: 'That's right.'
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
He later doubled down in an interview with M6 Info after the Paris Olympics, calling Durant his 'favorite childhood player.' Laughing, he added, 'I made it clear that I wanted to learn from him, perhaps only steal one or two of his secret techniques.'
Also Read:
If trade rumors surrounding Durant pan out, and the Spurs do become a landing spot, the student might soon train daily with the teacher. But regardless of what happens, Wembanyama's notebook will continue to grow, filled with hard-earned wisdom from legends who've already left their mark, and one who's just getting started.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Twin towers: Kunal Pradhan writes on the Sincaraz saga
Twin towers: Kunal Pradhan writes on the Sincaraz saga

Hindustan Times

timean hour ago

  • Hindustan Times

Twin towers: Kunal Pradhan writes on the Sincaraz saga

It was April 1, 2019, just another All Fools' Day in our strange world. Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open in June. (Getty Images) Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika faced massive protests after nearly 20 years in power; actor Felicity Huffman pleaded guilty in a varsity cheating scandal; British parliament voted against four Brexit alternatives; and a US judge rejected a plan by Donald Trump (in his first term) to send asylum-seekers to Mexico. Amid this global churning, in the Mediterranean port city of Alicante, two teenagers faced each other for the first time in the opening round of a nondescript Challenger tennis tournament. From Sexten, Italy: Jannik Sinner, 17. From Murcia, Spain: Carlos Alcaraz, 15. The world did not know it then, but the encounter would mark the start of two fairy-tale storylines: distinct yet connected, separate yet intertwined. Let's call it Sincaraz Day. Six years later, in June and July 2025, these two stories would collide over the course of two matches, played on two of the tennis world's biggest stages, the Stade Roland Garros in Paris and the All-England Club in London, setting the tone for a new era in sport. A passing of the torch, if you will, from the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic Age of the GOATs. Alcaraz came from two sets down to dismantle Sinner on the red Paris clay, and Sinner brushed off a first set loss to demolish Alcaraz on London's hallowed grass. If one had thoroughly dominated the other in both encounters, it wouldn't have been so significant. Sport needs rivalries that divide fan bases and consequently unite passion. Tyranny is boring, resistance is magnetic. Perfect match What makes the battle now underway between Sinner and Alcaraz so captivating is that they could not be more different, as players and as people. Though they are both consummate all-surface all-courters, Alcaraz has drawn different elements more sharply from the three legends he set out to replace. There is a touch of Roger Federer's artistry in the kinds of shots he can make — for example, the incredible down-the-line forehand from wide of the court to win the French Open title. There is a hint of Novak Djokovic's defence in the way he fights back from impossible positions in rallies — for instance, the desperate forehand slice to stay in the point, followed by a lunging drop shot to take the first set in the Wimbledon final. And there is the stamp of Rafael Nadal in how he alternates between incredible speed and unprecedented revs to control the tempo of every rally: drop shot, slice, top spin, then a burst of power for the winner. Sinner is more direct, a ruthless serve-plus-one and return-plus-one finisher against lesser opponents, and a relentless hitter of high-percentage shots when he is better matched. His is a meat-and-potatoes approach to tennis that is simplifying the formula for greatness: quick, prescient, precise and powerful. As the redoubtable sports commentator Peter Bodo wrote in Tennis magazine last year: 'If you tried to create a player with AI, you would probably end up with someone like Sinner.' Their personalities mirror their styles of play. If Alcaraz is the passionate Spaniard, conducting with the crowd while he's 'vamos'-ing his way through points, Sinner is the smiling assassin whose fist pumps are reserved for his coaching team and family. As in all such clashes of sporting philosophies, those who choose to love one of them will probably end up hating the other. Tied together Though Sinner and Alcaraz had won the last six Grand Slams before Wimbledon, claiming three each, the Italian was facing a crisis as he stepped on to the hallowed London grass. He was world No. 1, one of only eight players in history to amass 10,000 ranking points, and on the verge of becoming only the fifth (after Federer, Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray) to cross the 12,000 mark. Yet Alcaraz had defeated him at each of their last five meetings. Roland Garros, where Sinner lost in a five-and-a-half-hour battle after failing to convert three match points, further cemented the narrative that the Spaniard somehow had his number. The Wimbledon final, therefore, felt like a last chance to make it a real rivalry and hyphenate their legacies. Hyphenations are important, particularly in individual sport. When you think of one player, you must think of another, to make a legacy rise above statistics. Ali vs Frazier, Prost vs Senna, Kasparov vs Karpov, Navratilova vs Evert, McEnroe vs Borg, even Messi vs Ronaldo and Sachin vs Lara, are legends whose battles raged in lived history, irrespective of how many titles who won, to encapsulate our life and times. Now, just as the frenzy of Federer vs Nadal vs Djokovic was starting to fade, Sinner and Alcaraz have stepped forward. It may be early days for them, but Paris and London have shown that all the elements are in place for a fight for the ages. Pick whichever you like; more power to Sincaraz.

Lionel Messi 'Very Upset' After Being Penalised By MLS: "Draconian..."
Lionel Messi 'Very Upset' After Being Penalised By MLS: "Draconian..."

NDTV

time2 hours ago

  • NDTV

Lionel Messi 'Very Upset' After Being Penalised By MLS: "Draconian..."

Inter Miami co-owner Jorge Mas has revealed Lionel Messi is 'very upset' after being given a one-game ban for missing out on the Major league Soccer (MLS) All-Star game, a punishment which he believes is 'draconian.' Messi and Jordi Alba will miss the game against MLS Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati on Sunday (IST) as MLS rules state that any player who does not participate in the All-Star Game without prior approval from the league is ineligible to compete in his club's next match. "Lionel Messi is very upset, like we all are in the club, with the fact that they won't be able to play tomorrow night. But I think what we have to do as a club is to get together as one, have an attitude that is us against the world," Mas said at a news conference. Mas had also confirmed that the decision to rest the two players was made by the club given they had played nine games in a span of just 36 days and the heavily congested schedule with Concacaf Champions League, MLS regular season and FIFA Club World Cup duties having been carried out. "I think that the punishment for the rule is frankly draconian. Obviously, it was not a positive reaction [from Messi and Alba]. They want to compete, they want to play games. That's what they're here for, to play and win. They understand the magnitude of tomorrow's night's game. "So no, their reaction was exactly as expected of two competitive players who don't understand the decision, who don't understand why not attending an exhibition match leads directly to a suspension,' he added. Inter Miami currently sit at fifth place in the Eastern Conference and are seven points behind leaders Cincinnati, making it a very high stakes clash when the two teams meet on Sunday (IST).

DC Open 2025: Top seed Fritz falls in quarterfinals
DC Open 2025: Top seed Fritz falls in quarterfinals

The Hindu

time2 hours ago

  • The Hindu

DC Open 2025: Top seed Fritz falls in quarterfinals

US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early Saturday morning marathon to Spain's Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina in the semifinals of the ATP DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2:00 am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to a Saturday semifinal against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six double faults, served for the match in the ninth and was up 30-0 but lost, then failed to take advantage of three double faults by Davidovich-Fokina in the 10th game. The other men's semifinal will send French lucky loser Corentin Moutet against Australian seventh seed Alex De Minaur, who eliminated American Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-4. Moutet withstood leg cramps to eliminate eighth seed Daniil Medvedev 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. 'I tried to survive every point because it was hard physically,' Moutet said after fighting off leg cramps. 'I'm just proud of myself.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store