The 2026 NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome was designed to spotlight the league’s global reach, with every player receiving a personalized introduction. For Victor Wembanyama, that meant France on the big screen, and, for a few seconds, a version of France that wasn’t quite France.
During Wembanyama’s introduction, the graphic meant to represent the French map appeared distorted, with significant portions of the country’s eastern side missing and Corsica absent as well (the NBA used the capetian map of France that was valid well over 1000 years ago). The image flashed quickly, but it was enough to set off a wave of reactions in France, where viewers immediately noticed the geographic “amputation” and turned it into a running joke online.
The NBA oddly chose a map of France that corresponds to the old Capetian realm. Why does the NBA reject French annexation of Burgundy? Are they disputing the outcome of the Battle of Nancy? Will the NBA pledge loyalty to the Valois dukes? https://t.co/S854eHQCGS pic.twitter.com/3FSNzUck3r
— Big Serge ☦️🇺🇸🇷🇺 (@witte_sergei) February 16, 2026
The moment got big enough that it reached the Élysée. French President Emmanuel Macron responded with humor on social media, writing that he wanted to “reassure our neighbors” that France did not supply the map, before adding that “Wemby is indeed our French pride.”
Je veux rassurer nos voisins, nous n’avons pas fourni la carte. En revanche Wemby est bien notre fierté française ! 🇫🇷 https://t.co/A4SkB7u68g
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) February 16, 2026
It was a harmless blunder in the grand scheme of an exhibition weekend, but it landed because of the symbolism. The NBA has made Europe a central part of its growth story, and Wembanyama is the most visible French basketball figure the league has ever had. That’s why the mistake resonated: the introductions are supposed to be the polished, global-facing pageantry, and instead, one of the night’s most shared images became a cartography meme.
For the league, it’s the kind of small production error that will be laughed off and forgotten quickly. For France, it became a uniquely modern All-Star subplot: a global superstar, a national figurehead with a perfect one-liner, and a reminder that in 2026, even a few seconds of on-screen graphics can travel faster than the game itself.
