Back to the Top News Newsfeed

The Victor Wembanyama show begins with packed arena, welcome-to-the-NBA moment and muted stat line

LAS VEGAS — The stands were packed, phones were out and some two hours before Victor Wembanyama’s Summer League debut, scalpers were braving 100-plus-degree weather trying to find some poor chaps willing to pony up.

The stands inside the Thomas & Mack Center were already pretty full, even before the No. 1 pick strolled into the back of the arena — one full hour before his debut.

Even an anxious crowd seemed to grow more by the second in the previous game between Portland and Houston, which seemed to drag in the last minute.