Who let him in?
7-foot-4 Spurs star Victor Wembanyama was spotted in Manhattan’s private Gramercy Park, according to video posted on Instagram on Sunday.
While it’s unclear if the video was shot on Sunday, the implication was that the 22-year-old Frenchman was spending time before Monday’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals “drawing a statue,” according to the clip posted by Visitour Media.
The statue in Gramercy Park is of Edwin Booth, the Shakespearean actor whose brother was John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
Keys to Gramercy Park — which sits south of Lexington Ave. between 20th and 21st Streets — are reserved for residents who live right along the park, members of the National Arts Club and Players club, or members of the Brotherhood Synagogue or Calvary-St. George’s Church. Guests at the Gramercy Park hotel, which is set to reopen this fall after renovations, can also get keys.
So it’s not clear how Wembanyama got access. The Spurs appear to be staying at the Ritz-Carlton NoMad on 28th Street, according to videos posted on social media.
This isn’t the first time Wembanyama has enjoyed New York’s green spaces. In 2024, he played chess with strangers at Washington Square Park.
The Gramercy Park video comes as the Spurs trail the Knicks 2-0 in the series after Wembanyama missed a game-winning shot attempt at the end of Friday’s 105-104 Knicks victory.
Wembanyama was asked Sunday about how he handles pressure.
“I think the key is acceptance a lot of times and taking a step back, realizing the journey that’s behind us and what’s ahead of us, and just being OK with who I am, where I am, what I’m doing,” he said. “At the end of the day, this is everything I wished for, so there’s no reason to really overthink it. This is what I’m built for.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
