“This is where I feel at home”: Victor Wembanyama becomes a minority shareholder of Nanterre, his training club

He doesn’t forget where he comes from. If he reaches the heights and aims for the NBA title this season with the San Antonio Spurs, Victor Wembanyama knows that at the start, he is a little guy from Nanterre 92. Born in Chesnay, the Frenchman joined the Hauts-de-Seine club in 2014, at just 10 years old, and stayed there until 2021, making his professional debut under the green colors.

Five years later, “Wemby” has not forgotten this club which made him grow so much, and he decided to thank it. In an interview with L’Équipe, alongside the president of Nanterre Frédéric Donnadieu, the pivot announced that he would become a minority shareholder of the club. He thus becomes the first shareholder in its history.

“I don’t remember who came to the other first, but it happened naturally, we both had projects, a desire,” explained Victor Wembanyama. Above all, I was born in France, I grew up there. I want to have an impact on French basketball, and in Nanterre, because that’s where I quite simply feel at home. I want to grow with Nanterre, make the club grow. »

“I want Nanterre to be at the highest level”

If the amount of his investment has not been revealed, the Frenchman assures that “it is not artificial”. “I will be a shareholder, obviously. But the question is not financial for the moment, he said. The reality is that neither the life of the club nor mine will change overnight with this involvement. On the other hand, it’s not artificial, not even business. It is above all emotional. Something that makes a lot of sense. »

“More than the financial aspect, it can be structuring for the club in the long term,” continues Frédéric Donnadieu to L’Équipe. Thanks to who he is, to his relationships. It’s not about stealing his time, but we’ll talk whenever he wants. This new step will strengthen the link, making it official. »

And this should allow the Hauts-de-Seine club to have great ambitions in the years to come. “I have huge long-term plans, a lot of ambitions,” assured Victor Wembanyama. But it builds over years. I prefer to start by having an influence on a club, on a city. Without talking concretely about NBA Europe, the Euroleague, for me, the projects are in Nanterre. I don’t know what the European basketball sphere will look like, even in five years. Yes, I want Nanterre to be at the highest level. »