NBA Summer League: Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs steals the show amid drama as the first choice Since LeBron James in 2003, Victor Wembanyama has been the most anticipated NBA prospect. The rookie for the San Antonio Spurs made his debut in the Las Vegas Summer League in front of a boisterous crowd and was the main attraction.
Not included in the stat sheet are the innumerable photos and videos taken with his phone, the numerous times he cheered on his teammates, and the numerous signatures that kids and other fans received from Gregg Popovich, the amiable coach of the San Antonio Spurs, during halftime.
The Wemby Show has begun. As for Friday night’s result, which saw the Spurs defeat the Charlotte Hornets 76-68, it is meaningless and will be forgotten within a few days.
It was a memorable night for the 17,500 fans who purchased tickets, the most of them merely to witness Wembanyama’s first game uniform perspiration.
Wembanyama did a lot of things well, which can’t be a surprise. He screened well. Passed well; he even had a left-handed shovel pass for an assist. He defended well at times; Charlotte’s Brandon Miller, the No 2 pick in the draft, tried a three-pointer from about five or six feet beyond the arc in the first half, and Wembanyama threw his left arm skyward and blocked it with ease. And his four-point play with 2:50 left put the Spurs up by 14, just about sealing the win.
“He’s a legit 7-6,” Miller said afterward, only slightly exaggerating Wembanyama’s official height of 7 feet, 3-and-a-half inches. “Victor is a great guy, great off the court. He’s going to have a great career, and just to see him step up to the challenge, I think that shows a lot of heart.”
Wembanyama struggled shooting and airballed a pair of three-point tries in the fourth quarter, got moved out of the way on a few rebound opportunities, was sort of dunked on when he was trying to defend a lob to Charlotte’s Kai Jones – Wembanyama couldn’t reach it, and fouled Jones as he threw the ball down – and had plenty of moments that he’ll learn from on film.
“All in all, I think he did a good job. You can see his basketball IQ is elite,” Spurs summer coach Matt Nielsen said.
Again, none of it mattered much, good or bad. Wembanyama’s body of work in France over the last three years more than proved his enormous potential. A 30-point game or an 0-for-30 game on Friday night wouldn’t have changed anything.
There were hundreds of phones pointed at the tunnel when he emerged for a six-minute warmup before the game. Some tickets went for more than $200 on the resale market; that’s pretty much unheard of for Summer League. Fans in Spurs jerseys – they were obviously new jerseys, since they had Wembanyama’s name on them – started showing up inside the arena two games before the Spurs-Hornets matchup just to make sure they had a good seat. No. 3 draft pick Scoot Henderson played in the previous game for Portland; he came out and stood courtside for some of the second half of the Spurs game.
