NBA Draft star Victor Wembanyama will have new £389m gym to prepare for rookie season
The highly-rated top Draft pick will have access to a range of brand-new facilities ahead of his debut season at the San Antonio Spurs
Top NBA Draft pick Victor Wembanyama is set to have a new multi-million pound gym waiting for him ahead of his rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs. The £389million ($500m) practice facility is almost complete after almost ten years of meticulous planning.
The facility, set to be named The Rock at La Cantera, comes after the Spurs CEO RC Buford visited around 200 gyms in order to create the perfect gym for the team. Plans were inspired by sports outside of basketball including eSports, cycling, football, Formula One and skiing.
The space is set to be around 90,000 square feet which includes new locker rooms, meeting rooms and a larger area for teams to watch video replays and analysis. A new practic court area is also being added to replicate the team's current one in order to mimic the same acoustics.
Brand new hydrotherapy pools are also due to be included with every detail thought through. This includes making each pool 8 feet deep, something that will benefit the league's newest 7-foot-4 star Victor Wembanyama.
The San Antonio Spurs have reached a naming rights agreement with Victory Capital for their new performance center — part of the team's $500M campus project.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 18, 2023
"Victory Capital Performance Center" will open at The Rock at La Cantera late Summer 2023. pic.twitter.com/SC0P4lEPVI
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Spurs' CEO Buford has revealed why the club is making such changes. "We're not trying to build this to be the best in the NBA," he said.
"We're going to build this for our needs and to have the best environment we can to help develop the Spurs' culture. It's not about being better or worse than anybody."
Outside of practice, players will have access to a large park, splash pad, outdoor screens for films and gaming, as well as its own restaurant. There will also be large windows overlooking the practice court at the Spurs Club, which will include a bar and large reception area.
Don't miss...
Stephen Curry hits incredible hole-in-one and sends crowd wild [REPORTS]
NBA hopefuls train at Drake's Toronto mansion after personal invitation [REVEALED]
Steph Curry channels inner Tiger Woods by repeating golf icon's signature move [LATEST]
Senior director of basketball operations and the facility's project manager, Phil Cullen, believes that players and their families will be impressed once the new project is completed. "You think about opportunities to engage in family nights," he said.
"The idea and the concept was that families could come here, have an experience that they did not have to pay a dollar for. If you want to come and just have your kids have a good time, that's what this is about."
The project will surely impress the Spurs' latest recruit Victor Wembanyama. The 19-year-old Frenchman is one of the league's most exciting stars and will be looking to make an impression ahead of his debut NBA season later in the year.