Victor Wembanyama's Batman Begins-esque, "warrior monk" offseason training program became a hot topic on Wednesday with the release of a comprehensive story from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.
To make a long story short, Wemby traveled to China last offseason and did kung fu/meditation training with Shaolin monks, rising at 4:30 am every morning, running through forests, and doing a bunch of other stuff that sounds straight out of a movie.
Hilariously, Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka -- the furthest thing from a Buddhist monk -- factored into Shelburne's story (and Wemby's meditative retreat).
Rob Pelinka may have inspired Wemby to go to China last offseason
According to Shelburne, the idea for Wemby to travel to China and participate in his outside-the-box training regimen was conceived by Wemby's agent, Bouna Ndiaye, after Ndiaye spoke with Pelinka.
Ndiaye had reached out to Pelinka to schedule a lunch last April, mostly for the purpose of picking Pelinka's brain about the late Kobe Bryant, whom Ndiaye drew a comparison to Wembanyama, mentally and spiritually.
"The way they think is different," Ndiaye said of Wemby and Kobe (per Shelburne). "The way they play, the way they stretch themselves. Just their curiosity. How they study and watch things. They're both very creative on how to solve a problem ... I wanted to understand how Kobe did things. So that we could learn from him. Victor is not like anybody else. We have to be creative to build programs that are unique to him."
Wemby had been talking to Ndiaye about wanting to get stronger without losing flexibility (e.g., without bulking up too much). Moreover, Wemby wanted to challenge himself in all facets (physically, mentally, spiritually) with an offseason routine that went beyond basketball (this does sound a lot like Kobe).
During the Ndiaye-Pelinka lunch, the Lakers general manager confirmed that Kobe used to take on a similar mindset during many an offseason. When Bryant got obsessed with studying sharks one summer, for example, Pelinka researched an island off the coast of Mexico where Bryant could cage dive in crystal-clear water to observe sharks' movements.
Lakers' Rob Pelinka played small part in Wemby's massive leap
By the looks of it (especially if you watched Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals), Wemby's offseason trip to China for made a big difference. Wemby has the appearance this season of being the heir apparent to LeBron James and Nikola Jokić as the best player in the world, and he's still only 22 years old. The next decade could become a joke for the rest of the league, provided Wemby stays healthy.
Why exactly did Pelinka give Wemby's agent advice on how to unlock a player the Lakers will have to deal with in the West for the foreseeable future? Only Pelinka can answer that question, but the basketball gods may have intervened on Wemby's behalf. Meanwhile, Pelinka's probably off somewhere figuring out what to do this offseason with the Lakers in response to Wemby's arrival as a potential GOAT.
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