Wembanyama's New York chess excursion has prompted fresh idea from the Alien

Victor Wembanyama's buzz is growing louder than ever as he earns the respect of fans everywhere. His 42-point, 18-rebound night in New York on Christmas Day is a great way to dribble his way into the hearts of basketball lovers across the country. Madison Square Garden is known, not for what Knicks players do, but for what opposing superstars do when they visit, and Wemby didn't disappoint.

Since then, he dropped a casual 19 points on 50% shooting and added six blocks when he played the Brooklyn Nets two nights later. He's averaging 6.4 blocks in his last five games; you can't help but marvel at his ability. But as special as he is on the court, he's just a regular guy with ranging interests.

Wembanyama played chess in the park with fans

He reminded everyone of that when he posted on X after the Nets game asking fans where the best spots to play chess were. The next morning, Wembanyama had found his chess battleground, sending out another post asking fans to meet him at Washington Square Park in New York for a few matches.

It's not every day that an NBA star steps into a city to hang out with fans in any capacity, so to have the future face of the NBA casually capturing chess pieces in the park is pretty cool.

Afterward, the Alien took to social media with a gracious idea for charity. "We need an NBA players-only chess tournament, proceeds go to the charity of choice of the winner," he said in his post on X. He's not only innovative on the court but is also attempting to create new charity initiatives. That's the kind of guy Spurs fans love to have in silver and black—humble, kind, and selfless.

There's an argument to be made that Wemby just wants more competition to beat in different ways since everyone knows how competitive he is, but there's a very famous saying about "two birds and one stone," I'm sure most of you are familiar with.

San Antonio fans know Wemby is a giving individual with his time. He was Santa Wemby for the kids two years in a row and has shown up around the city, surprising fans on more than a handful of occasions.

Between his size, on-court skill, wide-ranging interests from chess to Star Wars, and his intellect—he described dark matter to the media last year (because, of course)—Victor Wembanyama may be the most interesting man in the NBA.