Victor Wembanyama has been a sensation so far in his rookie season, making the San Antonio Spurs relevant league-wide for the first time in years.
Unfortunately, TNT announcer Reggie Miller is still having a tough time pronouncing Wembanyama’s name, evidenced by Thursday night’s broadcast of the Spurs’ game against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks.
Miller mispronounced the rookie phenom’s name as Wembanyana—with an “NA” at the end instead of the proper “MA”—throughout the game. Making things worse was the fact that Thursday was Wembanyama’s 20th birthday.
You can hear Miller’s gaffe around the 50-second mark in the second clip below.
The incredible Wemby-Giannis sequences keep coming on TNT. 🏀🦄🔥 pic.twitter.com/iZtnVbV4TJ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 5, 2024
Wembanyama produced 27 points, nine rebounds and five blocks in 26 minutes of San Antonio’s 125–121 loss to Milwaukee. But some fans were preoccupied with Miller’s difficulty saying Wembanyama’s name.
Here are some of the best reactions from social media:
How does Reggie Miller still not know how to say Wembanyama?!
— Keith J. Varadi (@la_timing) January 5, 2024
This game has been so good that not even Reggie Miller calling Victor Wembanyama WembanyaNA over and over has been able to ruin it
— Jeje Gomez (@JejeGomezNBA) January 5, 2024
Reggie Miller can’t say Wembanyama. He always says Wembanyana. 🤦🏼♂️
— Stark (@Starkastic8) January 5, 2024
Reggie Miller should be fired for how many times he mispronounces Wembanyama’s name. He even paused and still got it wrong
— Alex Koslow (@koslow75) January 5, 2024
HOW MANY TIMES IS REGGIE MILLER GOING TO MISPRONOUNCE “WEMBANYAMA”?!?!!
— V4E Mac (@MacPena) January 5, 2024
At some point Reggie Miller is going to have to learn how to pronounce Wembanyama, right?
— Mr. Face of the Franchise (@tinylittlehomie) January 5, 2024
Reggie Miller will say 100 incorrect variations of Wembanyama and never feel like he got it wrong lmao
— New Vanguard (@120ss) January 5, 2024
Wembanyama is only just beginning what many predict will be a long, successful career, and Miller almost certainly will be calling his games in the future. Hopefully, the former Indiana Pacers star learns how to pronounce the name by the next time he has to call a Spurs game.
Maybe the NBA world should cut Miller a bit of slack, though. After all, the Spurs made the exact same mistake on Wembanyama’s jersey recently.
