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Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts during the third quarter of the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 01, 2026 in New York City.
Third-year San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama has urged fans to help him find his missing friend, Elijah Joseph Hoard, who was last seen at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Feb. 27.
Wemby wrote the following on his Instagram:
“Our friend Elijah has been missing from Chicago O’Hare since February 27th. If you have any information please reach out to local authorities.”
The Spurs star went as far as to tag notable Chicago sports legends like Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Connor Bedard in his IG post.
Wemby’s Friend Goes Missing
Per reports, the 23-year-old Elijah was visiting his father in Chicago for a 10-day trip and was dropped off at the airport, but never checked in or boarded the plane.
According to a “Missing Person” report filed by the Chicago Police Department, Wemby’s friend was last seen wearing”a brown hooded sweatshirt, black sweat pants and cream-colored shoes.” [H/T TMZ Sports].
Antwon Hoard, the father of Elijah, confirmed to ABC7 Chicago that his son never boarded the flight on Feb. 27.
“To my knowledge he was going to just register his ticket and get on the flight but for whatever reason he never took the flight his bags weren’t registered, and he never checked in, so what we’re thinking is he could possibly be floating around the airport or something, but again, that’s the last we’ve seen of him,” he said.
Wemby Favorite to Win DPOY
Wembanyama, who has appeared in 46 of the Spurs’ 60 games thus far, can afford to miss only three more games to maintain eligibility for the end-of-season awards. If Wemby does meet the 65-game threshold, he is almost a lock to win his first Defensive Player of the Year, an award he failed to capture last year after a bloodclot-related issue sidelined him for the final leg of the season.
Wemby, also a top-four candidate to win MVP, recently admitted that he wants to make a late push for the Michael Jordan Trophy.
“I know I’m in the MVP conversations,” he said, via EuroHoops.
“Of course, it’s one of my goals. I think that the main argument for that is the team’s success. That’s always the first thing. I’m also conscious that I need to press the gas a little bit on the last games of the season to win that award.”
The Spurs (43-17) will end their six-year postseason drought this year.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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