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Does Victor Wembanyama Have the Highest Philly Approval Rating of any Non-Philly Athlete?
By Matt Schultz
Published:
The NBA Finals begins on Wednesday night, and as the media machine churns out a deluge of content in anticipation of Game 1, this Victor Wembanyama gem has gone pretty viral:
WEMBY: “The lack of experience is a strength for us.”
MALIKA ANDREWS: “What do you mean by strength?”
WEMBY: “We can do impossible stuff because we don’t know it’s impossible.”
This clip is sick. This quote is sick. And maybe the best part is that he clearly didn’t know how he was going to finish his sentence – he was just answering a question honestly, then accidentally stumbled upon some of the wisest, coolest shit I’ve ever heard. How refreshing is that? In an era when everything athletes do is ultra-packaged and forced, when you can feel that everything they say has been labored over and run by PR and fed through ChatGPT a few times (looking at you, Jalen Hurts), for Wemby to casually drop this line is pretty great. Wemby rules. And while watching this clip, it crystalized in my mind that he’s easily my favorite non-Philly athlete right now.
Which got me thinking: Does the rest of Philadelphia feel the same way? Everyone has to agree with this, right? Just how high is his approval rating? Does Wemby officially hold the belt for the city’s favorite non-Philly athlete?
I think the answer has to be yes. Let’s talk it out here –
(NOTE: Only players who have zero ties to the area are eligible – they can’t be from here, have played here, have family here, own a house down the shore, etc.)
the case for yes
-Gotta start with how fun watching him play is. It’s so damn fun:
-He does something you’ve never seen before every time he takes the floor:
-He is the most competitive guy in every game he plays.
-He’s maybe the most competitive athlete in professional sports.
-He says he wants to win so badly it feels like his life depends on it:
-He’s not in the East, so his success doesn’t affect the Sixers.
-He just took down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the enemy of ethical hoopers everywhere.
-He’s twelve feet tall with hands the size of baby car seats, which is interesting to look at:
-Joel Embiid once put 70 points on his head, which Sixers fans can now claim was a passing of the torch moment:
-He’s clutch as hell, which makes for very entertaining television:
-He has the best lore in sports (went to China to train with Buddhist monks, somehow learned to become better at basketball there, not sure what China has to do with hoops but it’s sick as hell, some Bruce Wayne-ass training montage stuff, cartoon-hero-ass commitment to ball):
-He hates the NBA culture of being friends with guys you play against, which feels very Philly.
-He hates his opponents so much he sends in his goons after them:
-He does this type of stuff, which is very funny/cannot be an efficient way to train for basketball:
the case for no
I can’t think of anything. Wemby’s awesome. Who else is even in the conversation?
Other Athletes That Could Be in the Conversation (and My Personal Knocks Against Them)
-Anthony Edwards (hasn’t won enough yet)
-LeBron James (old, annoying)
-Shohei Ohtani (National League rival, on an evil team)
-Luka Dončić (annoying, crybaby)
-Caitlin Clark (no charisma, terrible in All State commercials)
-Josh Allen (old news, possible loser, may never get over the hump)
-Tiger Woods (sad)
There you have it. In conclusion, congratulations, Wemby. I hereby award you the belt of Philly’s Favorite Non-Philly Athlete, which is yours until someone in the comments makes a good point I didn’t think of.
Matt Schultz is a comedy and sports writer from Philadelphia. He’s written extensively for ClickHole, The Onion, and Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. His work has been featured in Vulture, Deadspin, The A.V. Club, Paste Magazine, and other publications. Much of his sports journalism can be found on college basketball websites that don’t exist anymore (PhilaHoops Heads rise up…)