Victor Wembanyama meets Tom Brady over dinner in New York: ‘I really like his vibe’

NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama and Tom Brady had dinner together in New York City on Tuesday night ahead of the star NBA rookie’s debut at Madison Square Garden.

“I really like the vibe he has, very humble, funny, but also interested in other people,” said Wembanyama, 19, a 7-foot-4 Parisian. Plays for the San Antonio Spurs. The greatest quarterback of all time.

“It feels really good to see people who are successful but happy,” Wembanyama continued. “He seemed happy with his life and he made people around him happy.”

A Spurs official said the dinner attended by Brady, who retired from the NFL at the end of last season, and Bunyama was hosted by billionaire and Fanatics co-owner Michael Rubin, who brought the two together. famous athletes as clients. Winby said he and Brady “almost bumped into each other” at the dinner.

Wembanyama is a football fan and his Spurs will face the New York Knicks at the Garden on Wednesday at 7:30 pm ET. He said he knows “a little” about American football and is learning “more and more.”

“I know Tom Brady,” he assured the swarm of media, some American and some Parisians who had flown in from France to cover Winby’s first game in New York.

Vunbanyama averaged 19.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in seven games. He said he will play against the Knicks’ bruising power forward Julius Randle in his first MSG game (Womby said Zach Collins will guard New York center Mitchell Robinson).

Of course, Wembunyama’s sheer height and basketball skills are unique – there has never been an NBA player as tall as him and able to shoot, dribble and move – which has led to the likes of “The Unicorn” Nickname cliché. “The nickname had been used over and over again, so (he) didn’t really like it,” Wembanyama said.

“Like LeBron said, everyone was a unicorn at one time. There was only one alien, right?”

When asked about his early impressions of what is arguably the most famous arena in the world, Wembanyama said: “It’s unbelievable. (MSG) isn’t as big as I thought it would be, but the atmosphere is still there.”

(Photo: Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today)