Yao Ming Angle: Wembanyama’s size 22 chase reaches 22

Victor Wembanyama’s yao ming-sized footprint may have changed again. The Spurs center was listed at size 20 before his rookie season, but reporting says his shoes may have climbed to size 22 during his first NBA year.

If that number holds, Wembanyama would move into a tie with Shaquille O’Neal and Bob Lanier for the largest feet in NBA history. He was listed at 7-foot-4 and 235 pounds on his NBA profile, and the Spurs revealed after the 2023 NBA draft that he measured 7-foot-3 1/2.

Wembanyama’s sizes kept moving

By the end of the 2023-24 season, his shoe size had expanded to 21.5, according to the report. That same account said he wore five different shoe sizes during the season: 20, 20.5, 21, 21.5 and 22.

The timeline stretches from October 2023 to February, when Wembanyama reportedly laced up or received sneakers in those five sizes. His player-issued Nike GT Hustle 2s that were auctioned off were size 22, another marker that his feet were being tracked closely across the season.

Shaquille O’Neal comparison

The comparison is simple because the benchmark is already set. Shaquille O’Neal’s foot grew from size 19 to 22 from 1992 to 1995, and Wembanyama would join him and Bob Lanier if his foot size officially reaches 22.

Aaron Dodson wrote on July 26, 2024, that Wembanyama’s feet may have grown as much as two sizes during his first NBA season. He also wrote: “You read that right. If the claim still seems unfathomable, follow the trail of reports linking Wembanyama to wearing five different shoe sizes throughout his rookie year.”

Nike and the next marker

Deepa Ramprasad said, “We’ve had athletes before who are considered big in the space of basketball and footwear,” and added, “But, it almost feels like Wemby and his feet are ever-growing, right?” She also said, “An athlete that young, whose body is evolving at the rate his is? The best word to use is dynamic.”

For Wembanyama, the number that matters now is 22. That is the size that would put him alongside O’Neal and Lanier, and it is the figure fans and shoe watchers will keep coming back to as his first NBA season keeps echoing into his second.