Victor Wembanyama's Training With Monks Detailed by Shaolin Master Amid NBA Playoff Run

Much has been made of Victor Wembanyama's offseason work at the Shaolin Temple, but now we have details of what went into his training from one of the people heavily involved in the process.

Speaking to ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Master Yan'an opened up about his initial interactions with Wembanyama that led to their training regimen last summer:

"I told him: You play basketball, and I do kung fu. If you want to be great, you have to do things that other people can't do. There are two parts to climbing the mountain. The daytime is for your body. Your endurance, your strength. The nighttime is for your mind. Your awareness."

One of the early items in Wembanyama's retreat caused Master Yan'an some stress because it involved a late-night hike to a cave with no lights around, opening up the possibility for an injury if, say, he were to step on something or clip his head because he couldn't see it.

"He's really young, and he has a really great future in basketball," Master Yan'an said. "He's also very tall, so he hit his head on some of the trees along the path and had to lean forward to go under them."

Other key aspects of Wembanyama's training, per Shelburne, involved 90 minutes of meditation multiple times per day, a form of Kung Fu known as Shaolin 13 Fist Form and eating the same strict vegan diet as the other monks.

Master Yan'an also included things with a basketball into the mix, notably by having Wembanyama dribble a ball up a "dangerous mountain route" in which he climbed around 2,500 feet in elevation.

According to Shelburne, Wembanyama completed the trail in about 4.5 hours even though Master Yan'an explained it typically takes between seven to eight hours to finish.

Wembanyama did speak last summer about his decision to journey to China and train with monks, though he was very cagey in his responses.

For instance, appearing on The Shop (h/t The Athletic's Larry Holder), Wembanyama called it a "great experience" and added some details about his work.

"Kung fu," the Spurs phenom said. "Everyday. It was like a vegan temple, monastery. … I was isolated."

All of the work seems to have paid off in spectacular fashion. Wembanyama finished third in NBA MVP voting and won the Defensive Player of the Year award for his outstanding regular season.

The Spurs finished 62-20, their most wins in a season since 2015-16. They have won nine of their first 12 games so far in the playoffs, highlighted by a 122-115 double-overtime win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Monday.

Wembanyama put up 41 points, 24 rebounds, three assists and three blocks in the opener against Oklahoma City. He became the seventh player in NBA history to have a 40-20 game in the conference finals or later.