At just 22 years old, Victor Wembanyama is already one of the most dominant young stars the NBA has ever seen, but the scariest part for the rest of the league may be his obsession with improving mentally rather than physically.
Wembunyama’s agent, Bouna Ndiaye, met with Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka last offseason to better understand the mindset and preparation habits that led Kobe Bryant to become one of the greatest players in basketball history.
“The reason is simple,” Ramona Shelburne wrote for ESPN.
“The way they think is different. The way they play, the way they stretch themselves. Just their curiosity. How they learn and see things. They’re both very creative in how they solve problems.
“I want to understand how Kobe does things. So we can learn from him. Victor is different than everyone else. We have to get creative and build a program that’s unique to him.”
Shelburne detailed several stories Pelinka shared during his time representing Bryant, including one particularly crazy example involving a great white shark.
“One summer, Kobe became obsessed with studying how great white sharks hunt and attack their prey. So it was Pelinka’s job to find him the best place in the world to do that — which was apparently Guadalupe Island, an island 150 miles off the coast of Baja, Mexico, where you can cage dive in crystal clear waters,” Shelburne reported to ESPN. Bryant later wrote in The Players’ Tribune in 2017 that his research on Jaws helped him defend Allen Iverson. “
Pelinka also reportedly explained Bryant’s fascination with studying artists such as Michelangelo and how he was constantly looking for ways to create extraordinary things out of impossible situations.
This relentless curiosity became the foundation of Bryant’s famous “Mamba Mentality,” an approach that helped him win five championships and become one of the greatest competitors the league has ever seen.
Now, Wembanyama appears to be following a similar path.
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