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San Antonio Spurs French forward-centre Victor Wembanyama (R), next to his mother Elodie de Fautereau (C), attends his event named "Hoop Gambit", a chess and basketball tournament that takes place in his birth town of Le Chesnay, south-west of Paris, on July 20, 2025.

San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama wouldn’t be the player and person he is today without the guidance of his mother, Élodie de Fautereau—a 6-foot-3 former pro basketball player and highly respected youth coach.

Élodie de Fautereau is widely credited with introducing Wemby to basketball, teaching him the fundamentals of the game during his childhood in Le Chesnay and ultimately guiding him through his journey into the NBA.

Here are five fast facts you need to know about Victor Wembanyama’s mother.

1. Victor Wembanyama & His Mother, Élodie de Fautereau, Are Part of Three Generations of Hoopers

GettyVictor Wembanyama (C) poses with his father Felix (L), sister Eve (2nd L), brother Oscar (2nd R) and mother Elodie de Fautereau (R) after being picked No. 1 overall by the San Antonio Spurs at the 2023 NBA Draft.

Much like Élodie de Fautereau introduced Wemby to basketball, her parents, Michel de Fautereau and Marie-Christine, did the same for her during her childhood.

While Michael (Wemby’s grandfather) played professionally in the French first division, Marie-Christine was also a basketball player in high school and college.

It’s little wonder that Wemby and his siblings took to the sport and excelled at it as quickly as they did. While “The Alien” is already one of the best hoopers in the world, his older sister, Ève Wembanyama, captured a gold medal for France at the 2017 FIBA U16 European Championship, and his younger brother, Oscar Wembanyama, is a rising talent in the French basketball system and could make it to the NBA in a few years.

2. Élodie de Fautereau Played Basketball at the Highest Level

Élodie de Fautereau represented France on a global stage and also played professional basketball in Europe for years before transitioning into a coach.

One of her career highlights includes playing for Belgian club Mosa Jambes during the 1998 Ronchetti Cup — a FIBA-organized annual women’s basketball event. In the tourney, she averaged 10.2 points and 4.7 rebounds from 19.7 minutes per game. During a game against Portuguese club Olivais FC Ceres, she had 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals while shooting an impressive 8-for-14 from the field.

3. Victor Wembanyama’s Mom Works at a Youth Academy

Wemby’s mom specializes in teaching kids between the ages of four and 10 on the fundamentals of basketball. To carry out her passion, she works for Yvelinois Basketball Academy, a dedicated heritage initiative established by the Comité des Yvelines de Basket-Ball (the department basketball committee for France’s Yvelines region).

Rather than operating as a traditional academy, it acts as a ceremonial hall of fame and nurtures elite talent from the region. Even Victor Wembanyama’s coach as a teenager, Karim de Fautereau, worked as a prominent developmental coach in the Yvelines area, which has been known to produce scores of elite French talent.

4. She Rarely Attends NBA Games

Élodie is known to watch every Spurs game, but typically from 5,000 miles away in France. However, she has attended several games since her son entered the league.

Notably, she was in the stands when her son dropped 40 points, including 25 in the first quarter, against the Los Angeles Lakers in early February. They were seen embracing after the game in a heartwarming moment.

She also waved to the “NBA on NBC” cameras after her son was named the 2025-26 Defensive Player of the Year, as seen in the clip below.

Wemby revealed what his mom told her moments before he received the award.

“It feels great. My mom is sitting here next to me and said something really true,” he said on the broadcast.

“The real struggle might have been getting to 65 games. But I’m super happy to win this award and super proud to be the first-ever unanimous.”

5. Élodie de Fautereau Lets Wemby Be: ‘She Knows Her Role’

Although Élodie taught Wemby the fundamentals of basketball until he turned 10, she never forced him to take up a career in the sport.

In a 2022 interview, Wemby revealed that his mom took a step back when he began training with older kids and just let him be.

“She teaches basketball to young players, like, from 4 to 10 or something like that. But for performance, I never trained with her,” he told the EuroLeague’s official website.

“It’s not that she doesn’t want to get involved in my performance, but she knows her role. You know what I mean? And she knows as a parent sometimes it’s better to fade off or not to get too much involved in your children’s path.”

Wemby credited his father, Félix Wembanyama, a former track and field athlete, for teaching him the right way to run and train.

“You know, there’s a correct way of running. And he taught me things like that,” Wemby said of his father. “And actually, I was actually part of a track and field team, like for a year around 10 or 11.”