Spurs star Victor Wembanyama brings books to games; that's not all that makes him different

Let's start with this: He brought a book to the All-Star Game.

As if the NBA needed more proof that San Antonio's Victor Wembanyama is different, the latest example came Sunday in a locker-room video posted by the league. Wembanyama was getting settled in before the games and Denver's Nikola Jokic was puzzled by what the Spurs star had with him.

“You really brought a book?” Jokic asked.

“I read before every game,” Wembanyama said.

Even at All-Star weekend, Wembanyama didn't change who he is. He got himself and Spurs teammate Chris Paul disqualified from the skills competition at All-Star Saturday night after finding what he thought was a loophole in the rules and could increase the chance of winning. He brought the book on Sunday. He was visibly frustrated when his team lost the All-Star tournament final.

San Antonio knows, and has known, that Wembanyama is the face of the Spurs. The rest of the league has probably figured out that he's one of the faces of the league — the game globally, too — and is well on his way to super-duper-superstardom, if he's not there already.

LeBron James had nothing but rave reviews for Wembanyama when the 7-foot-3 French center — who just turned 21 last month — was coming into the league. James heaps the Wemby praise even higher now.

“I’ve seen one quote that he says that nobody better call him past 9 o'clock at night because he’s either reading or he’s asleep. I think that’s super cool. I think that’s super dope,” the Los Angeles Lakers' star said. “That lets you know where his mind frame is at, where he is at intellectually, and I think he’s been great, obviously, for the franchise with the Spurs. But he’s going to be great for our league for so many years to come.”

Wembanyama was the unanimous rookie of the year last season; he's the favorite, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, to be defensive player of the year this season. He is almost certainly going to make the All-NBA team. He will likely get MVP votes.

All for good reason.

His scoring average is up. Rebounds per game, up. Shooting percentages, up. He's already taken 403 3-pointers and blocked 176 shots this season — no player in NBA history has ever finished a season with those numbers, and Wemby did it this year by the All-Star break. He's averaging 24.3 points, 11 rebounds, 3.8 blocks and 3.7 assists; the only other player to finish a season averaging all that was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975-76.

Golden State's Stephen Curry was asked what he marvels at when he watches Wembanyama.

“Everything he does,” Curry said. “Everything.”

The Spurs have been through some things this season.

Gregg Popovich, the franchise patriarch and someone Wembanyama calls the best leader he's ever known, had a stroke in November and coached only five games before needing to be replaced by assistant Mitch Johnson — who, by all accounts, has done an admirable job. The travel has been brutal, even by San Antonio standards: the Spurs went to New York for a few days over Christmas, spent a week in France for the NBA Paris Games, were in Los Angeles when wildfires were ravaging that city and are now dealing with the annual rodeo road trip that displaces them for much of February.

Paul says the team has had chances, pointing to how 10 of San Antonio's 29 losses have been by five points or fewer.

“I think we can really put something together after the break," Paul said.

With Wembanyama, all things are possible and the Spurs are most certainly in the play-in tournament mix. San Antonio — which added De'Aaron Fox around the trade deadline — is 3 1/2 games out of the final play-in spot with 30 games left to play. It's not out of reach.

“Gaining a bit of confidence because we have such changes in the season,” Wembanyama said, asked what the Spurs need to do for the stretch run. “Also defense, I think, is the key. Going back to the status of one of the best defenses is the key.”

Let that be yet another example of how he's different. At the All-Star Game, he was talking defense. It's who he is. It's how he approaches the game. He plays the right way. He studies. He gets his rest, does his homework. And his fellow All-Stars seem to be taking notice.

“I think it’s great for a person like him to be so competitive and so focused and so driven in all aspects of his game, no matter where he is,” New York All-Star guard Jalen Brunson said. “It could be preseason, it could be in All-Star, he’s going to have that same mindset. That’s what we’ve seen. And obviously the things he does on the court are just abnormal for someone his height. He's ridiculous, and to see how he works, his preparation, I think I admire that most.”

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San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks over Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks past Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama smiles before the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks past teammates Trae Young and Nikola Jokic during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama applauds on the court during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama is defended by Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks past Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks past teammate Trae Young during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama dunks past Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, left, dribbles past San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama during the NBA All-Star basketball game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, center, dunks next to Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. during the NBA basketball All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (Ezra Shaw/Pool Photo via AP)

San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, center, dunks in front of Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. (13) during the NBA basketball All-Star game Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco. (Ezra Shaw/Pool Photo via AP)

Team Chuck's Victor Wembanyama dunks against Team Shaq's Damian Lillard during the championship game of the 74th NBA All-Star Game in San Francisco, Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States said Sunday it rescued a service member missing behind enemy lines since Iran downed a fighter jet, as President Donald Trump escalated pressure on Tehran with renewed threats to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump wrote in a social media post that the aviator is injured but “will be just fine,” adding that the rescue involved “dozens of aircraft” and that the U.S. had been monitoring his location in the lead-up to his rescue.

“This brave Warrior was behind enemy lines in the treacherous mountains of Iran, being hunted down by our enemies, who were getting closer and closer by the hour,” Trump wrote.

The airman's extraction followed a frantic U.S. search-and-rescue operation after the Friday crash of the F-15E Strike Eagle, as Iran also promised a reward for anyone who turned in an “enemy pilot.”

A second crew member was rescued earlier.

The fighter jet was the first U.S. aircraft to have crashed in Iranian territory since the war, now in its sixth week, erupted.

Trump said last week that the U.S. had “decimated” Iran and would finish the war “very fast.” Two days later, Iran shot down two U.S. military planes, showing the ongoing perils of the bombing campaign and the ability of a degraded Iranian military to continue to hit back.

The other jet to go down was a U.S. A-10 attack aircraft. Neither the status of the crew nor exactly where it crashed was immediately known.

On Sunday, Iran’s state TV aired a video showing thick black smoke rising into the air, claiming that they had shot down an American transport plane and two helicopters that were part of the rescue operation. However, a regional intelligence official briefed on the mission told The Associated Press that the U.S. military blew up two transport planes due to a technical malfunction, forcing it to bring in additional aircraft to complete the rescue.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert mission.

In Kuwait, an Iranian drone attack caused significant damage to two power plants and put a water desalination station out of service, according to the Ministry of Electricity. No injuries were reported from the attack, the ministry said.

In Bahrain, the national oil company said that a drone attack caused a fire at one of its storage facilities, which was extinguished. It said the damage was still being assessed and no injuries had been reported.

In the United Arab Emirates, authorities responded to multiple fires at the Borouge petrochemicals plant, a joint venture of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. and Borealis of Austria. They say the fires were caused by falling debris following successful interceptions by air defense systems, but production at the plant in Ruwais, near the UAE’s western border with Saudi Arabia, has halted.

The strike came a day after Israel struck a petrochemical plant in Iran that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said generated revenue that it had used to fund the war.

The war began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.

Trump renewed his threats for Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz by Monday or face devastating consequences, writing Saturday in a social media post: “Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT. Time is running out — 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them.”

The waterway is a critical chokepoint for global energy shipments, especially oil and gas moving from the Persian Gulf to Europe and Asia. Disruptions there have injected volatility into the market and pushed oil and gas-importing countries to seek alternative sources.

“The doors of hell will be opened to you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi with the country’s joint military command said late Saturday in response to Trump’s renewed threat, state media reported. In turn, the general threatened all infrastructure used by the U.S. military in the region.

But Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Tahir Andrabi, told the AP that his government’s efforts to broker a ceasefire are “right on track” after Islamabad last week said that it would soon host talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Mediators from Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt were working to bring the U.S. and Iran to the negotiating table, according to two regional officials.

The proposed compromise includes a cessation of hostilities to allow a diplomatic settlement, according to a regional official involved in the efforts and a Gulf diplomat briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door diplomacy.

Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, issued a veiled threat late Friday to disrupt traffic through a second strategic waterway in the region, the Bab el-Mandeb.

The strait, 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. More than a tenth of seaborne global oil and a quarter of container ships pass through it.

“Which countries and companies account for the highest transit volumes through the strait?” Qalibaf wrote.

More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the war began.

In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. In Lebanon, more than 1,400 people have been killed and more than 1 million people have been displaced. Ten Israeli soldiers have died there.

This report has been corrected to show that Borealis is an Austrian company and not Australian.

Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Members of Lebanon's General Security stand at the Masnaa border crossing in the Bekaa valley, eastern Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A man, who fled Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon with his family, sleeps in his car used as shelter, along a seaside promenade in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Followers of Iraq's Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr chant slogans as they wave national Iraqi flag during a protest against U.S. and Israeli attacks on multiple cities across Iran, in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

A bedroom is damaged in a building struck in an Israeli airstrike in the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanon, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Pedetrians walk by a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh, with the mosque visible in the background, which officials at the site say was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Tuesday, in Zanjan, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Police officers and their horses take cover in an underground parking garage as sirens warn of an incoming missile fired from Yemen in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

A man looks at a destroyed building within the Grand Hosseiniyeh complex that officials say was hit by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes Tuesday in Zanjan, Iran, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)