"You can't help but be a Wemby fan! Victor Wembanyama is the absolute phenomenon of world basketball for the next 15 years!" Leaning with one arm on the crutch that held back his limping gait, slam poet Grand Corps Malade had a twinkle in his eye: The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris almost made him forget his own tour. In the bus that took him all over France, the TV was constantly turned on his computer. "I was really into it," he said. "And not just for basketball: like the whole of France, I spent the Games jumping from one discipline to another. The organization, all the venues, all the great ideas, the rising cauldron... And most of all, the public support. And that's something that can't be dictated."
Once the tour was over, he, his wife and their two boys, aged 14 and 10, headed straight for the Place de la Concorde for the breaking competitions, then the Bercy Arena for the basketball semi-final and final. "The French beat Japan by 4 points. Then they beat Canada and the Germans. One thing about France is that we can count on each other. We're good at team sports," he said, replaying the matches. "And in the final, to see them against the 12 Avengers of Team USA!"
For a long time, Grand Corps Malade – literally "Tall ill body" – who's real name is Fabien Marsaud, played basketball in Aubervilliers, north of Paris, at the National 3 level. At 1.93 meters, he's small in comparison to Wembanyama's 2.24 meters. "Normally, at that height," he said, "you're a bit clumsy, you don't run very fast. Not him, though. He runs. He's everywhere." He nodded in admiration. "To tell the truth, I know the family. His dad, Félix Wembanyama, organized poetry slam workshops at the MJC in Maurepas, in the Yvelines, in 2005. Inevitably, it brings people together."
Marsaud, on the other hand, was destined to become a gym teacher when, in 1997 at the age of 19, during an evening at a summer camp, the entertainer took a spectacular plunge into a swimming pool, which turned out to be neither deep enough nor full enough. He hit the bottom and broke his neck. After three months in intensive care and a year of rehabilitation, his dream was shattered. The man was resilient. He understood that to survive, it was necessary to accept the situation. He completed a diploma in sports management and joined the marketing department at the Stade de France, where he stayed for almost four years. "The offices were in the stadium and I would go and have my coffee in the empty stands – it was magical. Unfortunately, in that job, people talk more about money than sports... I fired myself."
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