Wembanyama Appears to Shade Karl Malone Over Birthday Tribute

July 27, 2025: San Antonio, Texas – San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama seemingly took a jab at NBA Hall of Famer Karl Malone on social media after the league’s official history account wished Malone a happy 62nd birthday on Thursday.

The @NBAHistory account on X posted, “Join us in wishing a Happy 62nd Birthday to 14x #NBAAllStar, 2x NBA MVP, and 75th Anniversary Team member… ‘The Mailman,’ Karl Malone! #NBABDAY.”

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Wembanyama appeared to express his disapproval by re-sharing a post from X user @DJ_Ajaxx (DJ J. Strand), which featured a video of a man saying, “What? Oh, see that’s what we not about to do. Police, lock his ass up because he need to be under the jail” in response to the NBA’s birthday message.

This re-shared post is widely interpreted as a reference to a past controversy involving Malone: his impregnation of a 13-year-old girl when he was 20 years old and attending Louisiana Tech. Despite blood tests confirming 99.3 percent probability of paternity in a 1998 Associated Press story, the former Utah Jazz star denied paternity for years. Malone later formed a relationship with his son, Demetress Bell, now 41, who played four seasons in the NFL. It remains unclear if Wembanyama’s re-share was a direct commentary on this specific aspect of Malone’s past.

The NBA had previously faced backlash during the 2023 All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City – where Malone spent 18 seasons and earned two MVP awards – for including him in the festivities. At the time, Malone stated, “I’m not discussing any of that backlash… I don’t care. That’s my life, that’s my personal life, and I’ll deal with that like I’ve had to deal with everything.”