Victor Wembanyama is already a sensation even before ever his NBA regular-season debut, as the Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick has impressed fans with his smooth skills and freakish wingspan in preseason games. The buzz is so intense that even stars from other teams want to meet the French phenom.
That was no different for longtime point guard Chris Paul, who made sure to swap jerseys with Wembanyama after the Warriors-Spurs preseason game Friday night in San Francisco. The 12-time All-Star also got his picture taken with the ballyhooed rookie. With a large difference in height between the 6’0” Paul and the 7’4” Wembanyama, the veteran tried to get a little extra boost by standing on the tips of his toes to reduce the height discrepancy just a bit.
A Wembanyama, Chris Paul jersey exchange pic.twitter.com/xabWFV7jSJ
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) October 21, 2023
Chris Paul and Wemby 💀
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) October 21, 2023
(via @ShaynaRubin) pic.twitter.com/9OqTO7ap9d
Fans noticed Paul’s sneaky move and humorously called him out for it on social media.
CP3 on his tiptoes 😭😭😭😭😭😭
— Andy Deossa 🇨🇴 (@Andy_Deossa) October 21, 2023
dawg, you standing next to an alien. cut it out https://t.co/EN0BxRcxHC
Chris on his tip toes 💀 by the end of the month Wemby won’t even know where that jersey is 😖 https://t.co/CyrhTvWXdR
— Extremely Aggressive Dog (@TwinOfTiger) October 21, 2023
chris paul little man syndrome crazy cause why are you on your tippy toes lmao https://t.co/LDotFGAQyF
— SJ (@SJBasketball8) October 21, 2023
Don’t sleep. Wemby gonna have all the PGs and SGs doing the Lil Bow Bow. Lol https://t.co/dplALgW4zi
— Childless Gambino (@Mr_Xecutive) October 21, 2023
Players do this and then nba twitter argue about how tall they really are.. “so and so must not be (insert random height) look at them standing next to so and so” https://t.co/xktSlPQNj4
— Antonio (@MtvTone) October 21, 2023
Who amongst us would not do the same? 🤣 https://t.co/mNlhJaIxKi
— De🅰️nn 🆎raham (@PDXBayArea) October 21, 2023
Paul has spent his entire career thriving as an undersized NBA star, so he likely is no stranger to height jokes. Although he appears to be the first player caught trying to literally measure up to Wembanyama, it’s unlikely he will be the last.