DALLAS — The Mavericks have little chance to land generational French teenager Victor Wembanyama in the NBA draft next summer.
But the connections to the surefire No. 1 overall pick and the Mavericks’ biggest legend are clear.
In July 2021, Wembanyama visited Dirk Nowitzki’s German guru, Holger Geschwindner, for a week-long intensive about basketball skill, physics and mental guidance.
In an interview with NBA insider Marc Stein, Geschwindner recounted the 7-foot-4 18-year-old’s initiative to train and experiment with unorthodox practices and how he expected Wembanyama to transform the NBA game — much like Nowitzki did for power forwards and European prospects a couple decades ago.
“This kid has the potential to change basketball again,” Geschwindner told Stein.
Later he continued: “He had a totally different start than Dirk had. Coming from a soccer country, we had to start from scratch. With the mobile phones and all the videos, there are no secrets anymore. This kid is already influenced by everything that is already out there. They start today in a totally different position than 25 years ago. They have seen so many good players and they have a chance to practice with some of those players.”
Wembanyama felt similar affection.
In a SLAM Magazine profile, Wembanyama also discussed his sessions with Geschwindner.
“At first, I thought I didn’t spend enough time with him to gain anything, but after a few days, I started thinking about it and I realized that it’s not about the moves he taught me,” Wembanyama said.
“The way he shows it is really weird, but it’s not about doing exactly what he tells me, it’s more about gaining what you can gain from the philosophy of why he shoots like that, why his knees are like that, why his arms are on the side instead of being in the middle. It’s more about the whole body philosophy of how to shoot the ball, it’s more mental than anything, it’s about balance.”
Beyond Nowitzki and Geschwindner’s influence, Wembanyama has formed connections to Dallas, too.
His agent, Bouna Ndiaye, represents other top French NBA players but is based in Dallas.
This past summer, Wembanyama took his first trip to the U.S. to train in Dallas for six weeks, according to SLAM, and he worked out with former NBA player Melvin Sanders and on SMU’s campus with Tim Martin.
Also in those workouts: Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey of South Garland and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner of Euless Trinity.
