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Updated May 29, 2026 at 2:00 PM<\/p>\n
Even casual basketball<\/a> fans know that Victor \u201cWemby\u201d Wembanyama is a phenom. At a towering seven feet, four inches tall, the San Antonio Spurs forward-center is among the National Basketball Association\u2019s (NBA\u2019s) top defenders at the net and a serious threat on offense\u2014often attempting five or more<\/a> three-point shots per game. His combination of height, agility and all-around basketball prowess are so out of this world, in fact, that some fans have even taken to calling him \u201cthe Alien.\u201d<\/p>\n In the ongoing playoffs, his three-point shooting has been on full display. In the first game of the best-of-seven NBA Western Conference Finals earlier this month, for instance, Wembanyama hit a deep three<\/a> to tie the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder (OKC) with less than a minute remaining on the clock in overtime. Wembanyama and the Spurs won the game in double overtime.<\/p>\n Whichever team wins this series will take on the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals in June. Ahead of the Spurs and OKC\u2019s Game 6 match on Thursday\u2014which the Spurs won\u2014Scientific American<\/i> spoke with experts in physics<\/a> and biomechanics about the science of Wemby\u2019s epic shots to find out: How does the tallest player in the NBA keep hitting all those threes?<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing<\/a>. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n The NBA\u2019s tallest players typically aren\u2019t known for taking such deep shots as Wemby. \u201cHe\u2019s just launching that thing,\u201d says Larry Silverberg, an emeritus professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University. \u201cIt\u2019s extremely unique,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n A lot goes into making a three-point basketball shot<\/a>. For one, there\u2019s the player: their height, the size of their hands and arms and the mechanics of their movement affect the shot. There\u2019s also the aim of the ball, as well as its backspin, speed and angle of release, Silverberg explains. All these factors and more come together in determining the success of a shot.<\/p>\n All things being equal, experts say that height is typically thought of as an advantage on the court because taller players are physically closer to the basket ring, which stands at 10 feet above the ground, and they are harder for smaller players to block. In other words, If the Golden State Warriors\u2019 Stephen Curry, one of the best three-point shooters of all time, was seven feet, four inches instead of six feet, two inches, he\u2019d likely have an even greater shooting advantage. A 2008 study<\/a> by Silverberg and a co-author suggested that free-throw shooters who release the ball from a higher starting point likely have greater accuracy, \u201cas long as this does not adversely affect the player\u2019s launch consistency.\u201d<\/p>\n Taller players should, in theory, be better shooters, but that doesn\u2019t always translate in a real-life setting, says Dimitrije Cabarkapa. A former collegiate basketball player, Cabarkapa is associate director of the Jayhawk Athletic Performance Laboratory at the University of Kansas, which is part of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, a research institute dedicated to improving human health.<\/p>\n In part, that may be because the NBA\u2019s so-called big guys usually aren\u2019t encouraged to specialize in shooting threes at an early age, and sometimes it also comes down to an individual player\u2019s coordination and mechanics, Cabarkapa says.<\/p>\n \u201cMany tall players have difficulty with these shots because their long arms can make the shooting motion harder to coordinate consistently,\u201d says Amy Pope<\/a>, a principal lecturer in physics and astronomy at Clemson University.<\/p>\n For Wemby, that problem doesn\u2019t appear to be an issue: \u201cWhen Victor Wembanyama shoots a successful three-pointer, what stands out to me is his body mechanics,\u201d Pope says. \u201cHis torso stays nearly vertical. Many shorter shooters need a stronger upward jump and more forward momentum to get the necessary range. Wembanyama\u2019s release point is so high that he does not need this large boost from his legs, giving his body a straight appearance.\u201d In fact, all he needs for the right exit velocity is \u201ca small vertical jump,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Wemby is also notably flexible<\/a>\u2014which can be its own advantage. For the best shooting proficiency, research<\/a> by Cabarkapa and his colleagues shows that three-point shooting starts from the \u201cbottom up.\u201d \u201cYou\u2019ve got to put your butt closer to the ground, keep your torso in near vertical position and make sure that your elbow is tucked under the basketball,\u201d he says. It also helps to have greater \u201cflexion,\u201d or bend, in your hips, knees and ankles.<\/p>\n \u201cIf somebody doesn\u2019t have a proper range of motion in the knee or hip joint, they may not be able to achieve enough flexion in those joints, which is necessary to generate force and perform an efficient shooting motion,\u201d he says. And some skills, of course, go beyond biomechanics.<\/p>\n \u201c[Wembanyama] knows he’s seven-foot-four. He knows that people generally are not going to block him, but he goes the extra mile. He says, \u2018I\u2019m going to take it from even further out,\u2019\u201d Silverberg says. \u201cBesides being tall, agile and skilled, he\u2019s even being a little bit creative there by deciding to work on a shot that nobody else would. I think that\u2019s pretty neat.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nOn supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
The science of Wemby<\/h2>\n