PARIS, Oct 9 (Reuters) – France’s basketball star Victor Wembanyama voiced his support on Thursday for French teenagers protesting over conditions in the country’s schools.
The Interior Ministry said 71,500 people took part in Thursday’s demonstrations, including 24,500 in the main Paris march centred on Place de la Bastille.
“These are systemic inequalities – problems so deep-rooted that, in fact, I’m glad that high-school students and young people in general are speaking up,” Wembanyama told a press conference on Thursday night.
“I hear them, and I support them, and I hope the people at the very top will do the same.”
The San Antonio Spurs player had previously replied “I would love to” when a fan asked him in an Instagram post to join the protest with the French teenagers.
“I have a lot of interest. I meant it,” Wembanyama added at the press conference. “I was in that position not so long ago.”
“I’ve had the chance to escape this system, to escape these problems. But it’s chance, it’s luck. So I want to show my support.”
“It’s not something that’s completely unfamiliar to me. I went to high school in Nanterre, which was already a stronghold of ‘blocages’ back then,” he said, referring to student-led school blockades.
Concerns about state schools have helped fuel some of France’s most significant protests in decades. They began last month at high schools in Paris’ poor northern suburbs, where anger over teacher absences and shabby facilities quickly evolved into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and falling standards.
The 2026 NBA runner-up with the Spurs has never been afraid to speak out on social issues.
He recently expressed his disappointment at professional athletes promoting sports betting sites.
“I will never do that. Honestly, I think it’s very sad to see some players promote it,” Wembanyama said earlier this month. “Everybody does whatever they want, but without me.”
“I want to promote things that have a good impact, have a good influence on the world, with who I can share messages and values.”
Last season, the 2024 Olympic runner-up also admitted feeling “a certain guilt to pollute so much as a person who flies 41 times a season”.
“I want to have an impact and offset the negative carbon footprint I have through the impact I can make, both financially and socially,” he said.
(Reporting by Vincent Daheron; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
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