monk

There were nice anecdotes to tell about Wembanyama’s eclectic offseason, how he trained with monks in China, worked on his post moves with Hakeem Olajuwon, played a lot of chess and visited NASA.

Win games and he can be as quiet as a Trappist monk.

Relentless discipline, the kind that makes Trappist monks look impulsive.

That’s because basketball’s most forward-thinking players are training with Shaolin monks and sumo wrestlers—all in the name of adapting to a sport that requires an entirely different set of skills.

Occasionally, my wife and I pause to read as we amble across to visit our late son, inurned near a Gothic Revival gate crowned by nests of monk parakeets.