I haven’t written a column since 2004. My last column was from the Democratic National Convention, where I wrote “Barack Obama could be president of the United States” following his speech. I resigned from the New York Daily News shortly after that.
Why I haven’t returned to writing in spaces like this is a subject for another day.
But as I was texting someone this morning regarding Victor Wembanyama, I thought, “This needs to be seen by more than one person.” So…here goes:
I am rooting for the Knicks. But I really love this human being…and the example he sets. And he doesn’t give AF! He will cry. He will hug. He will show his emotions and have the words to express why. He reads. He studies. He pushes his own boundaries.
We need him for a time such as this.
He is an immigrant. He is Black. He has a white mama. He doesn’t fit anywhere—both physically and otherwise. But he fits everywhere! Victor Wembanyama is a metaphor for the possibilities. He is also the blueprint for how one becomes.
That man is 22 years old! How is he so good at being a human being when he’s only walked the earth 22 years? They call him an alien. I believe people do that to absolve themselves of the responsibility of being better.
Victor Wembanyama wasn’t just born great. Sure, his genetics gave him height and perhaps natural athletic ability, but this man also put in the work.
I saw a video of him training with the Navy Seals, underwater, challenging himself. His workouts are legendary, and they incorporate swimming, yoga and weights.
But the real work that Victor Wembanyama is doing is on himself.
When he was told that his basketball play was in jeopardy because of a deep vein thrombosis diagnosis, he did something radical. He turned to spirituality. He took a trip to China and for two weeks practiced with monks.
He shaved his head, awakened at 4 a.m. every morning and learned the ways of the Shaolin. He took everything he learned, which also provided the healing Western medicine could not, and brought it to his NBA season.
What I see in Victor Wembanyama isn’t a basketball superstar—perhaps the next greatest. There was Mike, Kobe, Lebron and now Wemby. But he may exceed all of them because he has also cracked the code of life…at 22! That code involves mastering yourself.
My last column was the year Victor Wembanyama was born. It is fitting that my first one back is about him.
It’s also about me.
He has reminded me to really lean into the things I love and also to become even more disciplined. He also inspires me to be fully okay with being me.
That man is a spectacle wherever he goes. He cannot walk through life “normal.” He is 7 feet, 4 inches. There is not a doorway that he can walk through without bending down. And yet, he seems to have figured out how to be comfortable in his own skin. At 22! I’m still struggling with that at 60.
I love Victor Wembanyama. And while I may be rooting for the Knicks, I’m also rooting for him. We need to see that you can be good and kind and competitive and fierce and passionate and compassionate and different…and win!
This is bigger than the game.
