LAS VEGAS – Nearly 19,000 people stood at Thomas & Mack Center on Friday to watch Victor Wembanyama’s first game with the San Antonio Spurs against the Charlotte Hornets at NBA summer league.
When he stepped onto the floor, they screamed because they could finally see the 19-year-old who is getting more attention than anyone since LeBron James joined the league in 2003.
This week, tickets sold out early on. It was only the second time in the history of the NBA summer league that a game was sold out before it even started. The first time was when Zion Williamson played his first game with New Orleans in 2019. And it was only the fifth time something sold out.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, a six-time NBA winner, was there. So was Jerry West, whose face is on the NBA logo, and the rapper J. Cole.
But his beginning was not very exciting.
At the start of the game, Wembanyama’s jitters were very clear. His first three shots were all misses, including a drive dunk. At halfway, he had five points, five boards, and three blocks. He had only made one of seven shots from the field and none from beyond the arc. In 27 minutes, he scored nine points, grabbed eight rebounds, and blocked five shots as the Spurs won 76-68.
Wembymania was going strong outside of the court, though.
Fans from all over came to the arena hours before the game and hung out in Wembanyama shirts.
Dallin Biorn, a Spurs fan who is 27 years old, went from Colorado to Las Vegas for 11 to 12 hours to see Wembanyama play. He said he got three tickets online as soon as they went on sale for $45 each. On Thursday, he sold one of them for $215 to pay for the trip.
“I feel like it’s the next-coming of hopefully the rebirth of our dynasty,” Biorn said of the Spurs, who won five titles before missing the playoffs the last four years. “That is why I wanted to see him play the first-time. It’s important.”
Michael Escobedo, who is 45 years old, went from Indiana to Las Vegas to see the No. 1 pick in the NBA-Draft last month. Wembanyama thinks he could be the next star of the game if he stays fit.
I didn’t even know whether he was going to perform or not, but I still bought tickets, said Escobedo.
Wembanyama is a gift that has never been seen before. He is 7 feet 4 inches tall and has an 8-foot reach. He can shoot and move like someone a foot shorter than him. He can also post up and get the ball back thanks to his very unique body.
A person in the NBA says that Wembanyama’s reputation might be even bigger than James’ was 20 years ago. Since most people have only heard about Wembanyama’s skills or seen clips of him online, he has become something of a legend.
“We knew about LeBron,” the person said to FOX Sports. “We saw LeBron play when he was in high school. I saw LeBron play soccer. Wemby, however, was in France. It’s the year 2023, and social media has made sure that we can find out more about everything. We don’t know him, though. I bet that if you went to that game tonight and asked the crowd, “How many of you have actually seen him play a game? “, very few people would have.”
So, besides the two games Wembanyama played against the Ignite of the G League, Friday could be seen as his first real NBA test.
Even though things didn’t start out great, Wembanyama’s game looked easy at times. He won the first tip so easily that it was funny. In the first quarter, he impressed everyone with how well he could dribble the ball.
Three minutes into the game, he made his first shot, which was a bank shot under the basket.
His roughness showed how much he could be.
Wembanyama was well-known in France, where he had been playing professionally since he was 15 years old. He played for Metropolitans 92 last year and scored 21.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game. He was the youngest player to be named MVP of France’s LNB Pro A league.
But even though Wembanyama has a lot of skill, it’s still not clear if he’ll be as good as people say he will be in the NBA.
The NBA source stated, “By the All-Star-break, people will have a better-idea of whether he is all that or not.” “I think it is possible. I don’t know how long, though. The part about “how long” scares me. He needs to work on his body a lot. He does, for sure. People will go after him every night because of all the buzz. So, let’s see if he can keep that in mind.”This is just the beginning for Wembanyama.
This season, everyone will be watching him, which could be the best or worst thing for the boy who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.
