Hong Kong – NBA star Victor Wenbañala plays back and forth on the basketball court, but in China he appears to have temporarily acquired the position of Xiaolin monk.
The towering 7-foot-3 player from France is touring China and appears to have made a spiritual detour at Shaolin Temple in a photo that is widely shared on Chinese social media platform Weibo.
Wearing a shaved head and a grey robe, Wenbanyama can be seen sitting in front of a Buddha statue in a photo posted by the official NBA Wybo page on Monday.
I read the post “Deepen His Spiritual Journey!”
Wenbanyama is participating in the Closed Door Martial Arts Training, an employee of the Songshan Shorin Scenic Area, which includes the temple.
“No one can see him. He intentionally stays out of public view,” the employee said.
The team at Wenbanyama, the Texas-based San Antonio Spurs, posted a video last week on Wenbanyama’s Instagram, where Wenbanyama explores China’s Great Wall.
“@wemby is exploring China!” the post said.
One user commenter below said, “When Wenby is on top of it, it looks like a normal sized bridge.”
The 2024-25 NBA season ended early for 21-year-old Wenbanyama, shortly after his first appearance in the NBA All-Star Game, due to a deep venous thrombosis in his right shoulder after surgery in March. At the time, he averaged 24.3 points, 11 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.
Wenbagnama, the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year and the 2023 draft pick, entered the NBA as the biggest basketball outlook since LeBron James in 2003.
In addition to Spurs posting his video, Wenbanyama has kept his trip to China quite modest and has not posted anything about it on his own social media accounts.
The Shorin Temple retreat has become increasingly popular among famous people visiting China in recent years. Visiting there usually combines meditation, kung fu martial arts and Zen Buddhism practices.
Ishowspeed, a YouTuber and Live-Streamer, visited the same temple in March, and NBA star Shaquille O’Neal also visited in 2009.
Peter Guo, Larissa Gao and Matteo Mosquera contributed.
