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Victor Wembanyama Greeted With Massive Ovation From French Crowd Before Spurs-Pacers

The hometown star was greeted with a roar in Paris.

Liam McKeone

Victor Wembanyama
Victor Wembanyama / NBA on
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The San Antonio Spurs took on the Indiana Pacers on Thursday afternoon as part of the NBA's Paris Games series. Victor Wembanyama, who basked in the glow of the home crowd during last summer's Olympic Games, was treated like the home-grown star he is during player intros.

Listen to the French crowd going absolutely nuts for Wemby, ascending at the rapid pace everyone expected when hailing him as a generational prospect entering the 2023 draft.

It's a super cool scene, and one we'll likely see plenty of as the years go on. The NBA is very interested in establishing a foothold in major international markets. The league has played nearly 100 games in Europe, played preseason games in Abu Dhabi last fall and will return to China for more preseason contests next season. With Wemby, they have a marketable and verifiable international superstar to build around when it comes to international showcases.

In other words the Spurs will play in France as often as the NBA can justify it. And with this being the greeting he'll receive every time, Wembanyama probably won't object.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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