Victor Wembanyama surprised San Antonio Spurs fans in New York with chess matches on Friday (Dec. 27).
The NBA player stayed in the Big Apple during the holidays after his team lost against the New York Knicks 114-117 on Christmas Day, but redeemed themselves with a 96-87 win against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. But rather than spending some downtime in his hotel, Wemby invited fans to play chess with him at Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan.
Although it was a rainy day, dozens of fans beat the drizzle and headed out to meet with the 20-year-old professional basketball phenom, some beating him at the popular board game. "This is the biggest chess game of my life," one chess player said while seated opposite the athlete.
"Thanks for everyone who pulled up in the rain," Wembanyama wrote on X, accompanying a photo of himself surrounded by other chess players.
"I'm glad I did that," Wemby said while walking out of the park, as seen at the end of the video below.
Other pictures showed the France native greeting fans, laughing with them and concentrating on his next chess move while seated at the park.
Wembanyama, who began playing chess at 7 years old, later proposed an "NBA players-only Chess tournament," with proceeds that go "to the charity of choice of the winner." In September, Wemby returned home where he held a chess competition with Stanford Cardinal forward, and fellow 7-footer, Maxime Raynaud.