7'4" NBA Star Wemby's Three-Point Secret: Physics Explains

The NBA's tallest player is rewriting the rules of basketball, and science explains how he's doing it.

Victor "Wembanyama" stands seven feet, four inches tall. While most players his height stick to the paint, the San Antonio Spurs star is launching three-pointers from deep and hitting them at a rate that has fans calling him "the Alien."

In Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals this month, Wemby hit a clutch three-pointer to tie the game against Oklahoma City Thunder with under a minute left in overtime. The Spurs won in double overtime, and now they're competing for a spot in the NBA Finals.

His success puzzled experts at first. Taller players should theoretically shoot better because they're closer to the 10-foot basket and harder to block. But in reality, many struggle with three-pointers because their long arms make the shooting motion difficult to coordinate consistently.

Wemby is different. His body mechanics are nearly perfect.

"His torso stays nearly vertical," says Amy Pope, a physics lecturer at Clemson University. Most shorter shooters need a strong upward jump and forward momentum to reach the basket from three-point range. Wembanyama's release point is so high that he only needs a small vertical jump to generate the right exit velocity.

Research shows successful three-point shooting starts from the "bottom up." Dimitrije Cabarkapa, associate director of the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory at the University of Kansas, explains that shooters need their torso nearly vertical, elbow tucked under the ball, and significant bend in their hips, knees, and ankles.

Wemby's notable flexibility gives him an advantage. He achieves the proper range of motion in his joints necessary to generate force while keeping his shooting motion controlled, balanced, and repeatable.

Larry Silverberg, an emeritus professor at North Carolina State University, points out something else remarkable. A 2008 study suggested that shooters who release the ball from a higher starting point have greater accuracy, as long as it doesn't hurt their consistency.

Why This Inspires

Wembanyama isn't just using his natural advantages. He's doing something creative that experts say "nobody else would" try. Instead of playing to stereotypes about what tall players should do, he developed skills that maximize his unique combination of height, flexibility, and coordination.

He's proving that success comes from embracing what makes you different and working to perfect it.

The Spurs face the Thunder in Game 6 on Thursday, with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line, and Wemby's groundbreaking combination of size and skill continues to inspire basketball fans worldwide.