The hype around a player often attracts a lot of unnecessary vitriol. They get compared to previous stars that came before them and their style of play gets questioned as if they were not a first-year player entering the league. Victor Wembanyama had to carry this immediately after he got drafted by Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. He got compared to Los Angeles Lakers LeBron James and Michael Jordan, and some people even had the guts to say that his career may shape up like Greg Oden. All of those had to be put to rest in Wemby's season debut against the Dallas Mavericks. It may have even been a positive that fans tuned in for companies like ESPN.

Victor Wembanyama remains to be a player that a lot of people want to watch, not just Spurs fans. He broke NBA Summer League viewership records and remains to do the same for the 82 games. The Spurs star's debut against the Mavericks got viewership numbers that clocked in at a 2.99 million average during ESPN's live broadcast, per Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch.

This was the most-watched opening week game since LeBron James' Lakers faced James Harden's Houston Rockets back in 2018. That matchup has yet to be topped. James' first home game in the purple and gold jerseys notched 3.36 million viewers. However, there will be a lot of games left in the Spurs' franchise player's career. Will he be able to beat The King's viewership records at some point in the future?