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 Doncic 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.
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