It was a hero’s welcome home for Victor Wembanyama.
The San Antonio Spurs center dropped 30 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 blocks in their 140-110 win against the Indiana Pacers to a hyped Parisian crowd in the sold-out Accor Arena.
Wembanyama was born and raised in Le Chesnay, a suburb in west Paris, and spent five years playing professionally in France before moving to the NBA.
The two teams were kept at arm’s length for the majority of the game until the 3rd quarter when the Spurs offense came to life. Wemby, alongside Devin Vassell (25 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists) and Harrison Barnes (20 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists) completely outworked their opponents to win by 30 points in the end.
The game was part of a two-game series that is set to conclude this Saturday. It marks the first time a regular season NBA game has been played in the French capital. The game was a success, as fans packed into the arena in a variety of France national team and Wembanyama Spurs jerseys.
The crowd chanted Wemby’s name throughout the game, but the pièce de résistance were the ‘MVP’ chants as he came off the court in the final minutes. That honor is looking likely to belong to one of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Nikola Jokic this season, but we wouldn’t bet against him in the near future.
He also took the time to visit the local UEFA Champions League match yesterday, where he was spotted in attendance during Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) 4-2 win over Manchester City. He was filmed before the game performing ‘keepy-ups’ with a soccer ball.
The Pacers and Spurs are set to play the final game in the Paris series at the Accor Arena this Saturday, January 25th.