SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama’s height has become one of the NBA’s biggest mysteries.
He’s at least seven feet tall. But whether he’s halfway to eight feet, or even beyond that, is the subject of great debate.
There may be only one person in the NBA world who does not wonder how tall Victor Wembanyama really is.
“I literally never think about my height,” the man himself said Monday. “When people ask you, ‘How is it to be tall?’ It’s like, I don’t know, I’ve been like this forever.”
As Wembanyama’s electrifying preseason has put him at the center of the NBA universe, the curiosity over his actual height has continued to grow. It popped back on the radar when the Spurs’ training camp roster revealed his official height had increased an inch to 7-foot-4. Then, the Spurs’ website briefly listed his height at 7-5 before changing back to 7-4, which was a clerical error from an integration issue with the league’s website, according to the team.
Then, former Spurs center Boban Marjanović, who is 7-4, said on ESPN there’s “no way I’m taller than him” while gazing up toward the ceiling, igniting questions of whether 7-5 is even selling Wembanyama short. Even Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said he has no idea exactly how tall his star is.
While everyone seems to be captivated by the enigma that is Wembanyama’s height, he is just as puzzled by why they all care.
“The truth is, yes, sometimes I’m surprised that it’s still a conversation,” Wembanyama said. “It really doesn’t make a difference, to tell you the truth. I’m taller than everybody else. That’s all you need to know.”
The 21-year-old has been in the spotlight for years now, dating to his time with French club Metropolitans 92 as a teenager. But now he is experiencing what it’s like to be one of the biggest stars in a league that thrives off gossip and intel.
The NBA has gone viral in the social media age because it sells drama and curiosity surrounding its key figures. Basketball is one of the few games where players can dominate each phase of play and put the entire team on their back, so it produces the biggest stars in American sports. It’s also the one place where you can find heights you don’t find anywhere else. The NBA is a spectacle unlike any other, and Wembanyama is writing a chapter we haven’t quite read before.
But he wants the world to know that his height is an afterthought in the story he’s writing.
“Over the years, it has become a non-subject to me,” Wembanyama said before cracking a smile. “Because, in my opinion, there’s so many more interesting things about me.”
Wembanyama is far from the first NBA player whose height has come into question. For so long, the NBA listed players by their heights in shoes. But who puts on a pair of Jordans for their annual physical?
The league finally addressed this illusion five years ago. In an attempt to create consistency in the quality of measurements, the league required every player to be measured in socks. A team physician is required to oversee measurements and provide a signed certification when the team uploads the data to the league system.
This year, the league office sent a memo to all teams on Sept. 18 with detailed instructions and a requirement that all players’ heights be submitted to the league database between the start of training camp and Oct. 10.
Teams measure a player twice in socks, or barefoot to the nearest quarter-inch, then a third time as a tiebreaker if the results differ. If the league has questions about the height being reported, they will have the teams measure again.
“They have to certify that (the measurement) is real,” NBA President of League Operations Byron Spruell said. “Even with a re-measure, they still need a certification.”
Victor Wembanyama is listed at 7-4. He plays even taller than that. (Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)
While NBA player heights were once seen as a loose suggestion, the league has instituted protocols to try to (literally) level the playing field. They don’t just have players walk up to a door frame and draw a notch above their heads in Sharpie that says “Victor Wembanyama, age 21.”
Teams must assign three training staff members to play the role of posture police, ensuring players don’t cheat as they step up to the wall for measurement.
When the Spurs measured Wembanyama, protocols stipulated the first staffer would be placed on ankle duty. This meant having Wembanyama take off his shoes, put his heels together, turn his feet out 45 degrees, then raise his toes off the floor as the trainer held down his ankles. It’s one of the most elaborate attempts to keep someone off their tippy toes in modern times.
There’s the front judge, whose job was to make sure Wembayama’s posture looks straight. Then there was the side judge, who ensured he was aligned to the wall correctly and carefully inspected for the all-important Frankfort Horizontal Plane.
What is the Frankfort Horizontal Plane, you and anyone else who doesn’t have a few doctoral letters after their name may be asking? It is the anatomical line connecting the lowest point of the orbital bone to the uppermost point of the ear canal, the easiest way to determine that a head is in a neutral position.
Once the Frankfort Horizontal Plane was in place, a fourth member of staff pushed down on Wemby’s hair with a triangular right angle tool to officially record the measurement. In many cases, they might need a little boost to get the triangle up there. With Wemby, they needed to break out the furniture.
“I gotta stand on this chair and get the measuring stick, so I know he’s taller than me,” Johnson said before scribbling on an invisible page in the air. “Seven-something.”
Wembanyama’s listed height has increased from 7-3 to 7-4 this season, which is not uncommon for players entering the league at 19 years old. Growth plates often close in males by age 19, but in many cases remain open into a person’s early 20s, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The most recent player to be measured over 7-5 under these protocols was Tacko Fall, who came in at 7-5 1/4 in socks at the 2019 draft combine but then measured at 7-6 in socks when playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2021.
“I actually dealt with this in the front office. A good portion of our players are 19 years old and they’re still growing between the ages of 19 and 23,” said NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations James Jones, who was previously the general manager of the Phoenix Suns. “Sometimes you’ll see these changes, and people are like, ‘Is it accurate? Are they keeping accurate measurements?’ It’s just that these guys continue to grow in their first three, four years in the league.”
With all of these protocols in place, the Wembanyama mystery becomes even more confounding. Usually, you can eyeball a player’s height by comparing him to the other players on an NBA floor, which run the gamut from 5-10 to 7-2. Wembanyama stands beyond reference, at an elevation where each inch is harder to discern.
His teammates acknowledge the height mystery but are more fascinated with how Wembnyama is so down to earth. They often focus on his creativity, determination and authenticity. His humbleness from atop the totem pole brings him down to their level, where he makes genuine connections that have brought this team together.
“He’s a workaholic,” rookie wing Carter Bryant said. “I know not many people have things in common with him. But that’s one thing I think we have in common.”
So if Wembanyama is this layered human being, what makes his height such a big subject of fascination?
Perhaps the simple answer is that people crave novelty. Attention spans are shorter than ever, and familiarity walks a fine line between comfort and apathy. In a world plagued by dopamine addiction, big and bold has become the norm.
It’s why there’s as much interest in free agency as the NBA Finals. Oftentimes, the people reading about the latest trade rumor are waiting for something they’ve never seen before. This is the reason Stephen Curry was so revolutionary. He looked like he was playing a different sport when he first ascended to stardom.
Wembanyama is the next iteration. We haven’t seen a player his size do the things he does. But to say that with aplomb, people need an official height to frame things. Stats help quantify the story of the game and give us something to compare across eras. Height is the most basic stat, the first number we see to define who a player is and what he does.
That’s where Wembanyama is pushing back. Tall players who don’t want to be called centers have deflated their heights in the past to avoid that distinction. Kevin Garnett was famously referenced as being 6-foot-13. Wembanyama himself is announced as a forward, even if he’s the tallest player in the league. He wants to be more than a center and to be the best player he can be.
Of course, his height is a core part of that. It’s the reason the best player he can be might put him in the conversation one day for the best basketball player to ever live. His court vision and work ethic would make him a decent pro if he were 6-7. But he’s not. He’s far from it. That he is doing the things that are the hallmark of most players a foot shorter than him make him special.
The realization that his skill set and mindset are already this developed entering his third season makes hyperbole seem tame. The word unicorn has been tossed around over the past decade on players like Kristaps Porziņģis and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who were both worthy of the title. But what is more mythical than a unicorn? Everyone is trying to figure that out.
In the meantime, Wembanyama has worked to tune all of the conversation out, staying away from the instant gratification from social media, news media and whatever other outlets that can get him ahead of himself.
“I understand it’s very hard, because when you have a good game, it’s like free dopamine,” he said. “I know people scroll (for) thousands of hours. If you scroll and it’s positive things, it’s positive feedback. For years, I’ve trained my brain to not get your brain happy with insignificant things. To train your brain to be happy with big rewards and not small rewards like this.”
If there’s anything Wembanyama deserves praise for, it’s his insistence on doing things the hard way. His size could make some things easy. He spent the preseason passing up jump shots he said he can hit with his eyes closed so that he could focus on making the smarter plays for the whole team.
Learning how to do all the little things everyone else has to in order to find an edge gives him the biggest edge of all. Even giants have weaknesses and he’s trying to meticulously fortify every little vulnerability. That may be the difference between his height being something novel and his game standing the test of time.
Wembanyama said the least interesting thing about him is his height. He may soon prove to the world that he’s right.
