Victor Wembanyama is rising, and the Spurs can’t cover it any longer

Victor Wembanyama is a well-known commodity at this level, however one seemingly-unanswered query stays: how tall is he actually? In simply two seasons, we’ve already gotten conflicting stories. For the 2023-24 season, the NBA’s official roster web page had him listed at 7’4”, however then he all of a sudden shrunk to 7’3” for the 2024-25 season. And that was all after he had been listed as 7’3.5” forward of the 2023 NBA Draft.

It’s in all probability protected to imagine he didn’t develop then shrink an inch within the span of a yr, however regardless, it was been typically accepted that his peak is being underreported (simply ask Giannis Antetokounmpo, who shouldn’t be a small individual himself). Nevertheless, too many pictures have surfaced these days that present the Spurs (or NBA, whoever takes official measurements) aren’t fooling anybody anymore. First, there was the group’s official group photograph taken again in March.

Let’s use Charles Bassey (#28) as a reference. He was listed as 6’10” final season, and the highest of his head roughly aligns with Wemby’s mouth. A human cranium is usually thought-about to be 1/7 to 1/8 the peak of an individual’s complete physique peak relying on form. Since Wemby’s head appears to be extra spherical than oval, we’ll be conservative and go along with 1/8, making his head (minus the hair) roughly 11 inches tall if we go together with his preliminary measurement of seven’4”.

On the identical time, the underside of the chin to the mouth is taken into account a couple of quarter the peak of the cranium, so about 2.75” in Wemby’s case. That leaves us roughly 8.25” left, and add that to Bassey’s peak of 6’10”, and that locations Wemby at roughly 7’6.25”. Even if you wish to be beneficiant and say Bassey is reaching the underside of his nostril, Wemby would nonetheless be about 7’5”.

However that’s all primarily based on a distant photograph you may have squint or zoom means into to see and me performing some fast googling of human physique proportions (which can or could not apply to superhumans like Wemby), so lets have a look at some extra up-close proof. Much more not too long ago was Stephon Fortress’s Rookie of the Yr ceremony, the place all three prior Spurs ROY’s have been current. That included David Robinson (7’1”), Tim Duncan (6”11”) and Wemby, who was towering over all of them.

In fact, you could possibly level out that Duncan shouldn’t be precisely recognized for his posture (though she appears to be standing up fairly straight right here), or that The Admiral could have misplaced an inch or two with age, however Wemby continues to be clearly greater than the proposed 3-4 inches taller. The truth is, going with the underside of the nostril once more, that places him proper again in 7’6” territory, and that’s whereas going conservative and assuming Robinson has “shrunk” to six’11”. There’s additionally Fortress to think about, who’s listed as 6’6”. Ignoring the hair, the highest of his head is at roughly the center of Wemby’s neck. I don’t even wish to do the mathematics if we run with Wemby’s estimated cranium peak of 11” PLUS a few inches of neck … okay tremendous, we’re moving into 7’7” territory.

Lastly, the newest proof that the Spurs are probably underreporting Wemby’s peak comes with a little bit of a scale to go by.

That is Wemby with fellow Frenchman and 2025 draft prospect Maxine Raynaud simply yesterday, courtesy of KENS 5’s Jeff Garcia. Raynaud was formally listed as 7’.25” on the draft mix final week. Once more, in the event you go by cranium proportions, the highest of the nostril is taken into account the center of the pinnacle, so as soon as once more it’s important to give Wemby one other 5.5 inches on Raynaud, taking him again up in the direction of 7’7”, and also you don’t even need to take my phrase for it! I used to be prepared to begin doing extra math primarily based on the peak of the bricks, however one other man used an precise simulator that, primarily based on these photos, says if Raynaud is 7’0.25”, then Wemby is 7’7”.

At this level, Wemby’s peak has change into each a curiosity and hilarious joke. People have been already laughing that the Spurs really had him listed as an inch shorter this season than final, however now there’s an excessive amount of proof to maintain up the charade. Wemby towering over his tallest teammate, his predecessors and now a participant who has been formally measured within the final week speaks for itself. With all this proof, 7’5” appears on the low finish for Wemby, however it’s in all probability the shortest they may record him with out being laughed off the stage.