San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama stood outside in the rain on a cold Paris night. He wore a parka, a hooded sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers. And then he spent a few seconds showing off his skills.
A basketball was not involved.
Wembanyama — like so many others in the NBA — is obsessed with soccer. He was one of the star attractions at a Champions League match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City earlier this week. Down on the side of the field, Wembanyama put on a juggling show, flicking the ball in the air over and over, sometimes alternating between feet, without it hitting the ground. It’s a skill that takes at least a fair bit of soccer ability. He made it look easy.
“He could come and play with us,” PSG star Achraf Hakimi said.
Wembanyama left the stadium with a jersey that night, smiling like someone would be if they left an NBA arena with one of his jerseys.
Wembanyama, the Los Angeles Lakers‘ LeBron James, Milwaukee teammates Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, Miami‘s Jimmy Butler, Dallas‘ Luka Dončić and New York‘s Josh Hart are just a few of the soccer-obsessed players in the NBA right now — and they’re following in the footsteps of former stars like Steve Nash, Goran Dragic, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and plenty of others who starred in basketball but loved soccer.
“Soccer players are way more famous than NBA players,” Antetokounmpo said. “Way, way, way more famous.”
Inter Miami star Lionel Messi went to a Miami game last season and the Heat crowd — used to seeing celebrities at just about every contest — went wild trying to figure out exactly where the Argentina great was so they could grab a photo. James acquired a piece of Liverpool in 2021, through his investment with Fenway Sports Group. Antetokounmpo became a part-owner of Major League Soccer‘s Nashville SC in 2023. Heat guard Josh Richardson is in the process of investing in a team.
The ties between the NBA and soccer are many — and growing.
“It underlines the impact we can have as NBA players,” Wembanyama said. “It just reminds me of that responsibility that we have to make our best to make that impact positive. Overall, just bringing emotions to people and bringing it together.”
The NBA looks at soccer, particularly in Europe, very closely. The way clubs there have in-season tournaments was part of what convinced NBA Commissioner Adam Silver that such an event would work in his league. The tournament, now called the NBA Cup, has been a smash success in its first two seasons.
Even now, with the NBA in talks with FIBA and other entities about new collaborations for basketball in Europe, Silver is pointing to soccer as an example of what could work.
“Having had this long history from our operation of sports leagues, largely in the United States and a little bit elsewhere, seeing what’s happened in Europe — not just in basketball but in soccer — as well, it gives us the opportunity to say, ‘All right, let’s take a fresh look at what are the most effective practices for creating a commercially viable league,'” Silver said.
The Spurs are making their PSG fandom official. There’s now a business relationship between the teams; this week with San Antonio in Paris to play a pair of games with the Indiana Pacers, the Spurs and PSG even collaborated on new merchandise together, combining the brands. Executives met to discuss best practices and that sharing of ideas will continue going forward — mutually beneficial with the Spurs playing in France now and PSG coming to the U.S. later this year.
“This partnership represents a unique opportunity to blend our expertise in leadership and fan connection, creating unforgettable experiences for our audiences,” PSG CEO Victoriano Melero said. “With the Club World Cup competition in the U.S. next summer, we’re paving the way for new initiatives that transcend borders.”
Butler counts several soccer players — Paul Pogba among them — as his closest friends. He routinely greets soccer stars in the stands at games, has a slew of jerseys in his collection and follows plenty of teams around the world.
He says there’s a level of respect between soccer stars and basketball greats.
“What they do is so difficult, so it’s humbling for us to know that everything we do is hand-eye coordination and everything they do is foot-eye coordination, which is unlike any other game,” Butler said. “Then, on top of that, they really are the coolest people in the world. And on top of everything else, I think if the majority of them ever had to pick another sport to want to play, it actually would be basketball.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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