Kobe Bryant’s Influence Still Guiding NBA Stars Like Victor Wembanyama
· Yahoo Sports
San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama reportedly sought training advice from the Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations, Rob Pelinka, to learn about Kobe Bryant’s training regimen.
Wembanyama has emerged as one of the best players in the NBA, and he is constantly pushing to improve on and off the court.
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During the 2025 offseason, Wembanyama’s agent, Bouna Ndiaye, reached out to Pelinka about Kobe Bryant’s journey to improve as a player.
“I wanted to understand how Kobe did things,” Ndiaye told ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne for a feature story. “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.”
San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
Pelinka offered a ton of stories about how Bryant became obsessed with sharks and how they hunted and attacked their prey.
Additionally, Bryant would tour the Sistine Chapel to understand how Michaleagelo managed to make their paintings and artworks under tough conditions and a lack of modern tools.
The takeaway for Ndiaye? He needed to find similar, creative avenues for Wembanyama to improve and stretch his own wings.
“The way they think is different,” Ndiaye added during his interview. “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.”
What did Wembanyama want to improve?
According to Shelbourne’s report, it was all done to improve the French center’s physicality, given his lanky frame, which makes him look quite breakable.
“Wembanyama’s problem to solve last spring, Ndiaye said, was how to be more physical on the court without bulking up,” Shelbourne wrote in her story.
“How to get stronger without losing the flexibility and athleticism that make his body so unique. How to move differently so he could impose his will and his length and his prodigious skill set inside the 3-point line, where his opponents usually choose a player 30 to 50 pounds heavier to rough him up.”
While Bryant was nowhere near the same player, literally no other player is.
Wembanyama’s willingness to adopt his mindset and traits could have played a key role in his development as a player, helping him blossom into a top-5 player in the NBA.
The Frenchman is just another player who has tapped into Bryant’s legacy as the Black Mamba and found success.
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