Spurs, fans welcome No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama to San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO(AP) — The first dinner that Victor Wembanyama had in his new homecity was filled with San Antonio royalty. Gregg Popovich was there,of course. So were Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Manu Ginobili andSean Elliott.

NBAchampions, all of them.

Wembanyamanow starts his quest to join their club.

Even as thewelcomes for Wemby continued Saturday — one at San Antonio’s iconicdowntown River Walk, another at the arena — the French teen who hasbeen labeled a generational basketball talent already was thinkingabout what comes next. He’s got a visit to Nike headquarters inOregon in the next few days, appointments to see some houses in SanAntonio that he might be calling home for the next few years andthen practices for the NBA Summer League.

“I’ve got alot to do,” Wembanyama said. “But it’s all right. It’s OK. It’s allgoing to fit in.”

He’s excited,and rightly so. He put on a Spurs uniform on Saturday for the firsttime and will play in one for the first time sometime in early Julyin either Sacramento or Las Vegas; San Antonio plays in both ofthose summer leagues. He offered high-fives to hundreds of Spursemployees who showed up at the arena on Saturday to welcome him,smiling the whole way.

“These areexciting times,” Spurs CEO R.C. Buford said.

They comewith the biggest expectations. The morning party on the River Walktook place at the spot where the Spurs’ championship celebrationsusually are centered. And the news conference that followed at thearena came with Wembanyama seated on a stage that just happened tobe at the same end of the court as San Antonio’s five NBAchampionship banners.

“To Victor, Iwanted to say to you directly, we’re excited to grow with you,support you, challenge you, especially Coach Pop — there’ll be alot of challenging days — on your journey through life andbasketball,” Spurs general manager Brian Wright said as he sat toWembanyama’s left. “Your talent is obvious, but as we got to knowyou, the maturity, the approach, the character really showed us howspecial of a young man you are.”

It was partof a whirlwind first 20 hours or so in San Antonio forWembanyama,whoflew in from the NBA draft on Fridayand had dinner withPopovich and some former players that night. Wembanyama said helearned more about the NBA in those two hours than he had learnedin the last few years.

“Honestly,that was one of the best dinners of my life,” Wembanyama said. “Andnot because of the food. The food was good. But the people wascrazy.”

Saturdaystarted with Wembanyama enjoying a bag of the city’s famedbreakfast tacos — bacon and egg, and bean and cheese, he said —before heading to the Arneson River Theater for the day’s firstintroductory event. Robinson was there, sitting in the front row.So was San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, wearing a Wembanyamajersey.

There’ssomeone driving around San Antonio with a Wemby license plate.There’s a burger with foie gras on the menu at a local sports bar,as a tribute to Wembanyama. There’s a mural of him on the outsideof a business directly across the street of another mural featuringDuncan, Ginobili and Tony Parker. There’s even a mariachi band thatalready has a song about Wembanyama.

“The fanshave been the best at their job,” Wembanyama said. “I can only hopeto be at their level.”

The Spursalso introducedsecond-roundpick Sidy Cissokoon Saturday — another player from Francewho has known Wembanyama for about a decade. Cissoko played inSpain before ending up with the G League Ignite, and he already hasendeared himself to San Antonio, a city with a strong Latininfluence, by taking questions in English, French and Spanish.

“The hoopgods have been incredibly generous to San Antonio for a long time,and they blessed us again with Victor and Sidy,” Buford said.

Wembanyamasaid he hasn’t had much time for sleep, and he’s looking forward tothings calming down a bit so he can get back into his basketballroutine — one that has been understandably disrupted in recentdays. But first, there was luggage to unpack, more people to meet,more jerseys to sign.

It washectic. It’s going to be hectic for a while. And Wembanyama sayshe’s enjoying it all.

“This is thelife I wanted,” Wembanyama said. “This is what I worked for andit’s what I’ve been wanting for a long time. So, it feels normal tome.”