Please fasten your seat belt. It seems that there is another Wenbanyama on the way.
Oscar Wembaneyama, the 16-year-old younger brother of Spurs star rookie Victor Wembaneyama, has been in the news lately for his prowess on the basketball court.
Oscar is 6 feet 8 inches tall, which is a few inches shorter than Wenbanyama at his age, but he could be if he grows up to match his 20-year-old brother, who is 7 feet 4 inches tall. A force that cannot be ignored.
Oscar’s basketball journey began just two years ago, as his previous sport of choice was handball.
“In my city, all my friends were doing it. That’s why I started appreciating this sport. I guess you could say I was seen as an up-and-comer.” Oscar spoke at Euroleague last year. “I didn’t play much basketball because my mother organized a training course for children. I just played with my mother. I got hooked at the club last year. I started thinking about playing it a year ago. I was thinking.”
He turned to basketball during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There was a time when I wasn’t doing anything because of the coronavirus, but that emptiness gave me the opportunity to do something new, so I turned to basketball,” he said.
He told EuroLeague that highlights from Jason Williams, a great ball-handler who once starred for the Kings and Grizzlies, inspired his game.
Wenbanyama was the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft and is currently the overwhelming favorite to win Rookie of the Year, with odds at -5000 at the time of writing this on DraftKings.
In addition to his older brother, Oscar also draws inspiration from his younger sister Eve.
“There are too few stories about my sister,” Oscar told EuroLeague last year. “I watch all of her games and there’s something about her that inspires me, especially her intensity that she puts on the floor. She’s unbelievable.”
