PARIS – “Bonsoir Paris,” indeed.
With 15,935 raucous fans, most of them French, screeching in anticipation and appreciation as one of the country’s two most famous athletes took the microphone, Victor Wembanyama officially kicked off his much-celebrated homecoming at Paris’ largest basketball arena with those two words in his native tongue.
But it was his game that spoke the loudest.
Wemby’s first NBA game in France was a smashing success, as he went off for 30 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks in the San Antonio Spurs’ 140-110 win over the Indiana Pacers.
The Parisian and French national team standout erupted for 10 points in the first quarter, feeding off the emotion in Accor Arena, and spent the rest of his 32 total court minutes swatting shots, throwing lobs and dunking on the Pacers. In the fourth quarter, with the game well in hand, Wemby threw one off the backboard to himself and crushed it home, to the delight of the crowd.
One of many such occasions.
“It was perfect, it was a perfect evening,” Wembanyama said. “We had a win and we won the right way.”
The Spurs dominated in the second half, and when it was over Wemby said it was his team’s best game of the season. Chris Paul said it was his young teammate’s most complete game.
After a stirring rendition of the French national anthem, with most of the crowd singing along, Wembanyama was greeted by a deafening roar when his name was introduced. He and the Pacers’ Benn Mathurin, who is from Montreal and led the Pacers with 24 points, both addressed the crowd in French before the ball went in the air.
“I don’t know what Victor said, but whatever he said worked,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said.
“The ovation for him obviously was very, very moving just in terms of a reflection of how this city and country and these people feel about him,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson added.
The game was close for a half — a three-point lead at halftime was 25 by the time the third quarter ended — but the hum of excitement and adoration for Wembanyama never ceased. Their favorite player added six assists to his stats and shot 13-of-21 with four 3-pointers.
Throughout the game there were chants of “Wemby, Wemby,” and when the man of the night left the game for good with 5:34 remaining and his team ahead by 24, the chant shifted to “MVP, MVP.”
Not this year, French fans, but it’s probably not that far off.
“It meant everything,” Wemby said of the public adoration. “It’s not disappointing — it’s crazy to have the public like that show up. … I’m proud of us, proud of myself, proud of being French. It just confirmed what I thought was gonna happen, the energy (in the building).”
Wembanyama is the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, leads the league in blocks for the second consecutive season and has a great chance to become an All-Star in just his second pro season. Not even LeBron James did that.
“I think in the case of Victor, as I said, he’s exceeded my expectations,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said before the game. “And I would just say it’s a pleasure to be part of a league with Victor Wembanyama.”
The Spurs and Pacers will play again at noon Eastern on Saturday in Paris, with the game being televised on ESPN.
Tyrese Haliburton, playing in Paris for the first time since his stint with Team USA at the Olympics, finished with 13 points and seven assists for the Pacers. Pascal Siakam added 18 points.
Devin Vassell added 25 points for the Spurs and Harrison Barnes contributed 20 points. Jeremy Sochan returned after missing San Antonio’s previous five games with a bone bruise in his back and contributed 13 points and nine boards.
The Spurs assisted on 43 of their 58 buckets and smashed the Pacers on the glass, outrebounding them 57-31.
Wembanyama, who turned 21 earlier this month, was born and raised in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt, a western Paris suburb near the Palace of Versailles. He played for three professional teams in France, including two near his hometown.
Wemby’s first triumphant return to Paris as an NBA star occurred last summer when he emerged as the top player for a French national team that nearly beat the U.S. in the gold medal game at Accor Arena — the same court where Thursday’s Spurs-Pacers game was held.
Whereas the Olympics are a global celebration of sports, and the men’s basketball tournament was loaded with superstars, the NBA’s week in Paris was largely about Wembanyama. He made sure to turn the celebration into a sharing of his culture with teammates, as well as sharing the Spurs with the community where he grew up.
Upon arriving in Paris on Monday, the Spurs, at Wembanyama’s request, practiced at Nanterre 92’s gym, where he first turned pro in France at age 15. He then brought all the Spurs players to the Louis Vuitton anchor store on the Champs-Élysées, before treating them to a private dinner at the Michelin star restaurant, L’atelier de Joël Robuchon Etoile. The menu included lamb chop and quail, shellfish and caviar, and a passion fruit dessert.
On Tuesday, Wemby’s teammates, as well as San Antonio coaches and front-office members, joined him for the unveiling of two new outdoor basketball courts just four minutes from the house he grew up in and where his parents still live. Wembanyama said he used to go sled riding on the property where the courts were built. The project, the idea of which came from Wembanyama, was funded mostly by the Spurs’ charitable foundation and was pulled together over the last several months.
After the Spurs practiced Wednesday at Accor Arena, Wemby’s oldest and longest-tenured NBA vet, Chris Paul, who is 39 and has played 20 seasons, said “he’s just wise beyond his years.
“He knows the history of everything,” Paul said, in describing the conversation on the team bus that day. “We were talking about when the Louvre was built and why it was built. And he’s talking about all these different things and probably because I’m older. I appreciate it.”
The Spurs have a long international tradition that traces to at least 2000 in France, when San Antonio chief executive RC Buford began scouting Tony Parker. Now a Hall of Famer, Parker, who owns a pro team in Lyon, France, was on hand for the game, as was Team France general manager and former Spur Boris Diaw. Manu Ginobili, another Spurs legend, was on hand, as was the admiral, David Robinson.
The Spurs snapped a three-game losing streak; Indiana entered having won two straight and eight of nine. The Pacers are now 0-1 when seemingly having to play against entire countries.
“Obviously it’s not easy for us,” Mathurin said. “(Wembanyama) is a special player, a very good player, exceptional player. It’s not easy to stop him. We do what we can but he’s really good. He has a very bright future ahead.”
(Photo: Catherine Steenkeste / Getty Images)
