When a deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder ended Victor Wembanyama’s 24-25 season, he decided to take recovery extremely seriously and turned to some rather unconventional methods to come back stronger. In the offseason, he traveled to Zhengzhou in China to study at a Shaolin monastery. Looking back on it, he feels it was the best decision he could have made.
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The monastery in Zhengzhou is a place where visitors can learn about Chan meditation, Kung Fu, and traditional Chinese medicine. The experience was unlike anything the Frenchman had gone through before, and it is certainly something he could not have had while training or recovering on the court.
“It gave me a chance to experience things that I couldn’t have if I was only training for basketball,” Wembanyama said via Love magazine, before revealing what all he did that made the whole ordeal so special.
“I ran in the mountains for hours until my feet hurt and practiced a whole new range of movements, like lifting my foot above my head or jumping and kicking as hard as I could… It was perfect timing,” the San Antonio Spurs big man added.
Wembanyama has struggled with injuries since being drafted #1 in 2023. He played 71 games in his rookie season, but had minor niggles in his hip, ankles, and other parts of his lower body. The 24-25 season, proved to be worse, with the thrombosis affecting him deeply. His ambition was to go deep into the playoffs with the Spurs, and for that, he decided to push his body to the limit.
“Because of all the rehab and the long summer, I was able to force my body to overcompensate and do more things,” Wembanyama added.
Victor Wembanyama on his secret training at a Shaolin monastery in China during his injury rehab:
“It gave me a chance to experience things that I couldn’t have if I was only training for basketball. I ran in the mountains for hours until my feet hurt and practised a whole new… pic.twitter.com/KGWn6CDXq7
— NBA Base (@TheNBABase) March 5, 2026
To say it has worked would be an understatement. Wembanyama has dealt with a few injuries this season as well, but has not missed significant time. As a result, the Spurs are back at the top end of the table, currently #2 in the West, and have won nine of their last 10 games.
The aim is to win the NBA title, and if Wembanyama is healthy, he could lead the franchise to its first title since 2014.
