7 foot 4 NBA star spotted training with Pro D2 side Provence Rugby

NBA superstar San Antonio Spurs forward-centre Victor Wembanyama has spent this week training with Pro D2 promotion hopefuls Provence Rugby at the Maurice-David Stadium.

Wembanyama, 22, who hails from Le Chesnay in the western suburbs of Paris, was the first pick in the 2023 NBA draft and is a two-time NBA All-Star, and spent the week taking part in several drills during on-field training sessions with Philippe Saint-André’s squad.

He was part of the France squad that won an Olympic silver medal at the Paris Games, but there is very little prospect of the 7 ft 4 in star ever switching codes after signing a five-year £186m extension with the Spurs last month.

Wembanyama, who last summer trained with Monks in China, also used Brive’s facilities while recovering from an operation to remove a blood clot from his right shoulder, which prevented him from taking part in rugby sessions.

But there were no such worries this summer, and he was joined by his Spurs teammate, power forward Harrison Barnes. They were in the stands last night when Provence beat Nice 42-19 in a pre-season friendly.

Like Provence, who lost the Pro D2 final 18-14 to Vannes and then the Top 14 access match 47-24 to Perpignan, the Spurs lost the NBA Finals last season to the New York Knicks.

Wembanyama, who played football before focusing on basketball, admitted earlier this year, in an interview with ESPN, that he was disappointed not to have the chance to train with Brive last summer.

“One thing I wanted to do last summer but I didn’t have time for was to train with a rugby team, because they are the same movement patterns and it can be transposed to what I do. These are very interesting things.

“I always err on the side of choosing maybe slightly too many things, too many things to work on, too many projects, you know, I don’t know before,” he said.