Victor Wembanyama visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston last offseason.
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As NASA’s Artemis II moon mission launched Wednesday to send astronauts into lunar orbit for the first time in over 50 years, the crew on board received a parting message from San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.
Wembanyama was part of a NASA live stream that included Hollywood stars Scarlett Johansson and Ryan Gosling, among others, wishing the astronauts well on the Artemis II mission to the moon.
“Hey, I’m Victor Wembanyama, and I play basketball in the NBA,” he said. “But I’m not only interested in shooting hoops. I’m also interested in shooting stars, dark matter, and all other types of astronomical phenomena. And to Artemis II astronauts who are shooting for the moon, I wish them good luck and God speed.”
Wembanyama has shown interest in aeronautical science and cosmology, visiting NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston last offseason.
“My favorite (activity of the summer) was going to NASA and checking out all the stuff I’m passionate about from the inside,” he said on media day in September. “My favorite aspect, so there (were) a few, but meeting astronauts that either have been to space or are going to and legends amongst them.”
From the court to the cosmos, Wemby’s got game 🏀🚀
NBA star @Wemby, Victor Wembanyama stopped by NASA’s Johnson Space Center for a tour that included the Vehicle Mockup Facility, Mission Control, and a ride in a lunar rover.
Whether it’s dominating the paint or geeking out… pic.twitter.com/EpfrgfgzHc
— NASA’s Johnson Space Center (@NASA_Johnson) August 29, 2025
Wembanyama recalled meeting Peggy Whitson, who has the most spacewalk time of any American. He also visited the offices of space suit company Axiom, and he described feeling like a kid seeing replicas of the spacecraft that always fascinated him.
The Spurs All-Star chose to receive his 2024 Rookie of the Year award at Scobee Education Center & Planetarium at San Antonio College while watching a presentation on dark matter. He spoke of its enigmatic mystery, something that has become a component of his story as he rapidly becomes a public figure of consequence.
“Its presence inside galaxies is five times higher than regular seeable matter, so it’s a huge mystery,” he said. “We can’t see it. We can’t observe it, but we can observe its influence. This is dark matter. Very sci-fi.”
At 7-foot-4, Wembanyama, nicknamed “The Alien,” stands closer to the cosmos than almost anyone on earth. He has spent his youth learning mindfulness and understanding something bigger than himself, as big as he is. That has long been one of NASA’s missions, to help the public gain perspective on our place in the solar system and universe. Wembanyama spent his off day following the All-Star game visiting the Northern Lights in Alaska. His fascination with the world beyond ours runs deep.
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Jared Weiss is a staff writer covering the San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama for The Athletic. He has covered the Celtics since 2011, co-founding CLNS Media Network while in college before covering the team for SB Nation’s CelticsBlog and USA Today. Before coming to The Athletic, Weiss spent a decade working for the government, primarily as a compliance bank regulator. Follow Jared on Twitter @JaredWeissNBA