Spurs' Victor Wembanyama Inspires Popular Campaign at San Antonio Library
In late March, I reminisced about LeBron James’ early-career phenomenon of reading at his locker or carrying a book in the tunnel and declared San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama the NBA‘s new-age bookworm.
It was not a revelatory take, considering Wembanyama had gone viral for bringing a book to the locker room at the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend, leaving Nikola Jokic gobsmacked. But Mirin Fader just cemented Wembanyama’s literary influence.
Fader published a story for The Athletic about the San Antonio Public Library’s “Read Like Wemby” campaign, launched May 14.
“One of the lists on the SAPL's website is of print books Wembanyama has been seen reading and related fantasy and science fiction books inspired by his reading habits,” Fader wrote. “Another is a list of titles on Libby, the free e-book and audiobook app. There are about 50 titles collectively across both platforms.”
Fader added that “nearly 160 copies of the books, physical and electronic, have been checked out or placed on hold since the start of the campaign.”
After the Spurs mollywhopped the Oklahoma City Thunder to even the Western Conference Finals at 2-2 on Sunday night, Spurs All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox gave a glimpse into Wembanyama’s throwback habits.
“Everything that you hear about Vic is true,” Fox said on NBC’s “NBA Showtime” postgame broadcast. “He don’t wanna see blue light after 9 o’clock. He reads books. He’s not on his phone.”
Wembanyama has rivaled any fictional hero since he was first discovered as a teen phenom in France. The Spurs drafted him at No. 1 overall in 2023 and have built a group of young avengers, such as Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper, around him in subsequent drafts. This season, Wembanyama has looked every bit the future face of the league, as he became the first-ever unanimous Defensive Player of the Year and earned his first All-NBA First Team selection.
Now, in Wemby’s first playoff run, the new-look Spurs are pushing the reigning champion Thunder to the brink of elimination. Should the Spurs reach the 2026 NBA Finals, it would be the franchise’s first Finals appearance since winning it in 2014.
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This story was originally published May 25, 2026 at 10:05 PM.