Victor Wembanyama Gets Introduction to N.B.A. Fame and Game in Las Vegas
The walls around Victor Wembanyama, as he sat for a news conference Friday night at the Thomas and Mack Center, were plastered with images of past winners of the Las Vegas Summer League tournament. There were N.B.A. stars who played there in the early days of their careers and a photo of LeBron James from 2018, when he showed up wearing gold shorts that said “Lakers” on the front in his first public appearance after signing with the team.
The summer league debuted the year after James’s rookie season, so its first marquee rookie was Dwight Howard, the top pick in 2004. As Wembanyama spoke with reporters, a picture of a smiling Howard could be seen on a wall to his right.
“The Beatles?” one team executive had joked earlier that night when asked what he would compare to the hysteria around Wembanyama, whom the San Antonio Spurs selected first overall last month. The closest real comparison is to James’s entry into the league in 2003.
Wembanyama had just finished his debut performance in a Spurs jersey, when he scored nine points with eight rebounds, three assists and five blocks. He made 2 of 13 shots and sometimes looked tired.
Source: The New York Times
