Just off the Las Vegas Strip on Friday night, the most anticipated NBA prospect in 20 years will play his first game for San Antonio in front of a sellout crowd.
LAS VEGAS — Victor Wembanyama is set to make his debut for the San Antonio Spurs in what may be the most anticipated Las Vegas Summer League game ever.
It will certainly be the most heavily attended. Tickets sold out for day one of the NBA’s premiere showcase for up and coming players, and UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center will be full of fans, reporters and scouts hoping to see something special from the 19-year-old Frenchman who is widely regarded as the best NBA prospect since LeBron James.
It’s been nearly two months since the Spurs won the most important draft lottery of the past 20 years, giving them the right to select the 7’3″ phenom first overall.
Celebrations erupted across San Antonio, and since then, fans in the Alamo City have been eagerly awaiting the moment that he takes the floor in Silver and Black for the first time. That moment is here.
On Friday night in prime time, at an arena just off the Vegas Strip packed with over 19,000 people, Victor Wembanyama will play his first game for the Spurs. It will be against the Charlotte Hornets and the second pick in this year’s draft, Alabama’s Brandon Miller. The game is at 8 p.m. central on ESPN.
Wembanyama didn’t play in the team’s first two summer league games this week, held in Sacramento. San Antonio won both of those games by double digits, looking crisp and locked in with some impressive individual performances.
Malaki Branham put up 32 points in the second game, shooting 12-24 from the floor and 3-6 from three. Blake Wesley, another first-round pick last season, added 18 points on an efficient 7-9 to go with 7 rebounds and 5 assists as he gets reps as a primary playmaker.
Julian Champagnie, who just signed a 4-year contract worth $12 million, scorched the nets from deep and showed a versatile all-around game. He started with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals in the first game and then had 28 points, 5 boards and 2 blocks in the next.
Dom Barlow has looked springy, switchable and surprisingly smooth from the mid-range. Rookie second-round pick Sidy Cissoko, another Frenchman, is showing his defensive versatility and playmaking upside.
This young group is already clicking and playing well, and they’re excited to add Wembanyama to the mix.
The more experienced Spurs aren’t playing this week, but Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Zach Collins, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Charles Bassey and Doug McDermott came out to Vegas to practice with the youngsters. Gregg Popovich also is with the team this week.
Wembanyama was in the headlines before the games started after an incident between Spurs security and pop star Britney Spears at a Las Vegas restaurant on Wednesday night.
Police reviewed footage and spoke to Spears’ security team, and they determined that when Spears approached the rookie from behind and tried to tap him on the shoulder, the security guard pushed her hand back, causing her to hit herself in the face. They decided not to charge the security team member.
Wembanyama said Thursday that he was told to keep moving and didn’t realize it was Spears until later. The full police report was released Friday and can be found here.
This story will be updated with coverage from Wembanyama’s debut.
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