Victor Wembanyama’s feet may be growing almost as fast as his legend. The San Antonio Spurs center, already listed at 7-foot-4 and 235 pounds on his NBA profile, was the subject of fresh attention after reports on July 26, 2024, said his shoe size may have climbed as high as 22 during his rookie season.
The latest buzz centers on a simple but startling detail: Wembanyama’s feet. After the 2023 NBA draft, the Spurs revealed that his height is 7-foot-3 1/2, and there has been speculation since then that he has grown taller in the NBA. Aaron Dodson wrote that there is “tangible evidence” to support the idea that Wembanyama’s feet grew as much as two sizes in his first season, adding that the trail of reports points to him wearing five different shoe sizes during the 2023-24 season. By the end of his rookie year, his shoe size had reportedly expanded to 21.5.
Those numbers matter because the size conversation now reaches beyond curiosity and into NBA history. The Spurs officially listed Wembanyama at size 20 ahead of his rookie season, and a pair of his player-issued Nike GT Hustle 2s were auctioned in size 22. If his foot size officially reaches 22, he would be tied with Shaquille O’Neal and Bob Lanier for the largest feet in league history. O’Neal’s foot grew from size 19 to 22 from 1992 to 1995, and Wembanyama’s own run from October 2023 to February is being cited as a modern parallel.
There is a reason the speculation has persisted. Wembanyama is one of the tallest players in the NBA, and the chatter about whether he has grown taller since arriving in the league has followed him from the start. His family background only adds to the fascination: his father, Felix Wembanyama, is estimated to be 6-foot-6, and his mother, Elodie de Fautereau, is 6-foot-3. Nike has also leaned into the scale of the player, using an Alien logo in marketing campaigns while fans wait for his own signature shoe.
Deepa Ramprasad, who tracks the footwear side of the sport, said the league has seen big players before but that Wembanyama stands apart in how his body is still changing. “We’ve had athletes before who are considered big in the space of basketball and footwear,” she said, before adding, “But, it almost feels like Wemby and his feet are ever-growing, right?” She called him “dynamic,” a fitting word for a player whose measurements continue to draw the same kind of attention as his game.
The uncertainty is part of the story. Wembanyama’s listed height remains 7-foot-4, but the Spurs’ own post-draft reveal put him at 7-foot-3 1/2, and the shoe-size reporting suggests his frame is still settling. For now, the bigger question is not whether the numbers will keep changing, but how long it will take before one of the NBA’s most unusual physical profiles is fully pinned down.
