French basketball star Victor Wembanyama confirmed on Tuesday he has bought a minority stake in his boyhood club Nanterre 92.
The 22-year-old played for the club between the ages of 10 and 17 before leaving in June 2021 to join French top-flight side ASVEL in Lyon in south-eastern France.
He left a year later for Metropolitans 92 just outside Paris. He said he was drawn to the club because head coach Vincent Collet was known for giving young players a chance.
The choice paid off. In June 2023, Wembanyama was drafted by NBA Western Conference team San Antonio Spurs as their top young recruit for the 2023-2024 season.
At the end of that campaign, he was named 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year. He became the first Frenchman to win the award since it was created in 1953 and only the sixth player to receive it by unanimous vote.
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“Nanterre shaped me as a player and as a man,” Wembanyama said in a statement on Tuesday. “I want to help make it a benchmark club that is ambitious, inclusive and true to its values in the long term.”
The club did not reveal how much he invested. Executives said his stake would help fund training programmes and youth projects.
“This significant and formative decision is a natural continuation of Victor's commitment to the club that trained him,” the club said in a statement.
“It reflects a clear desire to make a lasting contribution to the development of a club that has played an important role in his sporting and personal development.”
Setting records
Since joining the Spurs, Wembanyama has continued to notch up records.
On 10 February, he scored 40 points and took 12 rebounds in a 136-108 win over the LA Lakers.
He scored 37 points in the first half, the highest-scoring half by a Spurs player in the 21st century. He also passed Spurs legend Tim Duncan in career 40-point games, recording his sixth. Wembanyama became the third player in the past 50 seasons to score at least 40 points while playing 27 minutes or fewer.
“Seeing Victor become a shareholder in the club that trained him is a sign of exceptional trust and a powerful symbol for all generations of players who wear or will wear our colours,” Frédéric Donnadieu, president of Nanterre 92, said.
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Return to Paris
In January 2025, Wembanyama was one of the main attractions when the Spurs and Indiana Pacers played two regular season games in Paris as part of the NBA’s international drive to boost the popularity of its teams.
Wembanyama limbered up with his teammates on his old stomping ground at the Palais des sports Maurice-Thorez in Nanterre and he inaugurated two basketball courts in his home town of Le Chesnay, some 17 kilometres west of Paris.
In an interview with the French sports newspaper L’Equipe on Tuesday, Wembanyama said: “I don't even remember who approached whom first but it happened naturally. I was born and raised in France. I want to have an impact on French basketball and at Nanterre because that's where I feel at home.”
