Victor Wembanyama's highly anticipated NBA debut didn't quite live up to years of hype only intensified by his mind-blowing preseason performance. The San Antonio Spurs rookie dealt with foul trouble throughout a hard-fought loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, coming alive in the fourth quarter to give his young team the chance to steal a season-opening victory over Luka Doncic and company.
After the game, Wembanyama made clear he wasn't too dismayed by his up-and-down performance. The only thing that really mattered to him in his first NBA game was getting a win.
“Lots of emotions, of course,” Wembanyama said of his debut. “Would've been perfect with a win.?
The French wunderkind was feted by a fawning home crowd at Frost Bank Center from the moment he stepped on the court for warmups. Fans chanted his name intermittently throughout the game, rising to a crescendo of oohs, aahs and cheers each time he touched the ball or was even just directly involved in the play.
“It felt surreal for a moment,” Wembanyama said about the crowd's reception. “I just feel very lucky to be here.”
Victor Wembanyanma's thrilling, disappointing debut with Spurs
To be clear, the only real disappointment stemming from Wembanyama's first taste of real NBA action was his lack of court time. He picked up two fouls halfway through the first quarter of of Wednesday's game, then collected two more quick whistles—both on offense—during the first three minutes of the second half. Wembanyama didn't enter again until the fourth quarter, relegated to just 23 minutes of court time once the final buzzer sounded.
But he was close to dominant in the final stanza, finishing a towering alley-oop, splashing a triple in face of Dallas counterpart Derek Lively II, racing the floor in transition for an and-1 dunk and hitting another face-up jumper from the left block extended. Wembanyama finished the game with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, one block and five turnovers, only flashing the unique all-court dynamism that seems destined to become routine at some point in his rookie season, let alone for years and years to come.
Unsurprisingly, Wembanyama's teammates were left supremely impressed by his ability to play through foul trouble for a flourish of a finish.
“That just speaks to who he is as a person and a player,” Tre Jones said, per Tom Orsborn of the San Antonio Express-News. “He wasn’t beating himself up. He knew there were some tough fouls on him and there was probably some nerves that went into it as well, but he was able to give us some big buckets in the fourth.”
Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs are back in action on Friday night against the Houston Rockets.
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