This is just sad.
Nothing is sacred anymore. On December 24, Victor Wembanyama gave us one of the great jersey swaps of all time when a young fan holding a sign traded his tiny, youth-sized Wemby jersey for one about 40 sizes too big for him.
Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images
It was an iconic moment. Adorable in every way. A literal giant of a basketball player standing next to a child who was just taller than his knee. Unfortunately, nothing is sacred, and now the jersey from the game is up for auction.
It was so much that it crushed Wemby’s spirit.
— Wemby (@wemby) January 15, 2025
The jersey is up for bid on Goldin Sports Auctions with a starting bid of $10,000, set to begin next week. The saddest part is that there’s no scenario I can think of where this whole this isn’t just crushing. Either something happened to this kid’s family to where they really needed the money in a pinch, which is awful — or the entire moment was manufactured to try and get the jersey and make a quick buck. I don’t know which would be worse.
Either way, this kind of thing is going to make every single player ever more jaded about giving away gear to young fans at games. If there’s a constant worry they’re just doing it to flip online then things will go the way of autographs, which have been totally ruined for kids because of greedy idiot adults.
