French basketball star Victor Wembanyama on Wednesday added another line to his growing sporting CV when he was named the NBA Western Conference’s player of the month after helping the San Antonio Spurs win all 11 of their games in February.
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White earned the honour in the Eastern Conference.
It is the first time that 22-year-old Wembanyama has won the player of the month award. NBA analysts also named him Western Conference defensive player of the month for the second month in a row.
He is the first Frenchman since Tony Parker in January 2013 to parade the player of the month prize.
NBA rise
During February 2026, Wembanyama averaged 3.5 blocks per game and lifted his league-leading season average to 2.9. He also ranked second in the Western Conference in defensive rebounds with 9.3 per game.
In June 2023, Wembanyama moved to Texas-based Spurs from the French division one outfit Metropolitans 92 where he had dominated the season's charts in points scored, rebounds and blocked shots.
The hype framing his voyage from France to the United States described him as a generational talent and one of the sport's most dazzling prospects since LeBron James in 2003.
Wembanyama, at two metres 21 centimetres, boasts the height of a centre (defender) as well as the shooting and silky ball-handling skills of a guard (attacker).
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Stake in boyhood club
On Tuesday, Wembanyama confirmed he had bought a minority stake in his boyhood club Nanterre 92.
He played for the outfit 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.
“Nanterre shaped me as a player and as a man,” Wembanyama said. “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 Wembanyama had 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.
French basketball prodigy Wembanyama prepares for NBA ascent
“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.”
After a year at ASVEL, Wembanyama moved to Metropolitans 92 before entering the NBA big time 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 brandish the award since it was created in 1953 and only the sixth player to receive it by unanimous vote.
On 30 January 2025, Wembanyama was named as one of the reserves for the Western Conference in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
In the 2026 showpiece, he was named as one of the five players in the Western Conference's starting line-up.
