The Spurs reportedly have an official measurement for Victor Wembanyama's height
Victor Wembanyama's height has been the subject of great disagreement.
Since the hype train hit full steam in the lead-up to the NBA Draft, how tall the French phenom is depended largely on whom you asked. Some listed him at 7-foot-2. Some claimed that he's 7-5. Wembanyama said himself as recently as June 21 that he's 7-3.
But he skipped the draft combine in May, meaning there was no official NBA listing. Until now, reportedly. The San Antonio Express-News — citing an unnamed team official — reported the Spurs have measured Wembanyama, and he checks in at 7 feet, 3 1/2 inches. That's without shoes. So he apparently was shorting himself half an inch. Or perhaps something got lost in metric-conversion translation. We'll round up to 7-4 for brevity's sake.
Either way, the moral of the story remains. Wembanyama is really tall. And really talented.
The new reported measurement isn't likely to convince some corners of the internet. A recent photo Wembanyama shared suggested that he was, in fact, on the taller side of prior estimates. The photo below shows Wembanyama standing directly between former Spurs Sean Elliott (left) and David Robinson (right). Elliott was listed at 6-8 during his playing days. Robinson was listed at 7-1. Wembanyama, here, appears to tower over them both. And they're all wearing shoes and appear to be standing on equal footing.
Couldn’t ask for better role models 🖤 pic.twitter.com/lcw7cvbeTt
— Wemby (@vicw_32) June 25, 2023
Pictures and perspective deceive, of course. A snapshot is not a reliable measure of height.
But whether he was 7-2, 7-5 or somewhere in between didn't much matter. Wembanyama's combination of size and skill is something the NBA's never seen, and he projects as an unprecedented matchup quandary for opponents to try their best to figure out.
Good luck, NBA.