You have to climb “environ 1 500 marchesâ€, dont “none are the same size or height†, to climb Wuru Peak to Bodhidharma Cave. “Some are narrow, others are wide†, and no light illuminates the way. This is where this young man came to train, to “consolidate your inner strength, in harmony with your prodigious physical strength†.
This is not the summary of a sequel project to the films Shaolin Soccer or Kill Bill, but the story, made by ESPN, of the last summer vacation of the new French NBA star, Victor Wembanyama. A few days ago, the American sports channel returned, with an interview with a monk, behind the scenes of the San Antonio Spurs player’s stay at the Shaolin temple in Henan province, in central China.
On the night of Saturday May 30 to Sunday May 31, the young Frenchman will need all his “inner strength†to allow his team to reach the finals of the North American basketball championship. The Spurs will face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the deciding game of the NBA Conference Finals, with the two teams tied (3-3).
Three beds
Let’s hope, for Texan supporters and French fans, that he remembers the teachings of his tutor at the free throw line. “I told him: ‘You play basketball, I do kung fu. If you want to become great, you have to do things that others don’t do’†, a récemment confié maître Yan’an à ESPN. Or again:
“There are two aspects of climbing the mountain. The day is dedicated to your body. Your endurance, your strength. Night is for your mind. Your conscience.â€
“Wembanyama a compris†, assure ESPN. The channel cannot resist the pleasure of anecdotes, like “the three single beds aligned to accommodate†les 2,24 m¨tres de cet “extraordinary student†, Who “he banged his head on the trees along the way†towards the famous cave.
But it also underlines the seriousness of the approach of Victor Wembanyama, who had come to the prestigious Buddhist monastery neither as a tourist nor for the cameras, this stay being surrounded by great discretion, which was undermined by the difficulty of concealing the trip to central China of a “2.24 meter global superstar†.
Suspension bridges
ESPN thus insists on the determination of the French basketball player, who not only “levé à 4 h 30†to train, in “shaving his head†and wearing “the robe of Shaolin monks†. The Spurs player also, among many exercises, “dribbling for four and a half hours with a basketball along another dangerous mountain path†, with “plank paths along cliff sides, suspension bridges and through ancient forests†.
Et Wembanyama willingly submitted to long meditation sessions with “100 other monks†, dont “the duration was defined by the length of the incense stick burning in the center of the room†.
When he witnessed Victor Wembanyama’s exceptional performance in mid-May during the first match between the Spurs and the Thunder, Master Yan’an was happy, but not surprised because, as he told ESPN, son ancien disciple “is truly special, you can feel it in his eyes†.
This night, Victor Wembanyama will be expected even more, but he will undoubtedly be less afraid of failure than on the steps of Wuru peak, where “the slightest misstep can send the walker tumbling down the steep staircase†.
