SAN ANTONIO — Victor Wembanyama’s first win of his rookie season with the San Antonio Spurs came with no fans present, no referees around and didn’t even require the use of a basketball.
It was, of all things, an art contest. The Spurs gave their players a few minutes to sketch The Coyote, the team mascot. Wembanyama thought for a few seconds and went to work. The teenager makes no secret that he loves art and studies it by visiting museums and exhibits. So it should have been no surprise that his drawing topped all others.
“Since it’s a contest, I gave 100%,” Wembanyama said. “I wanted to win.”
Get used to that, San Antonio. You too, NBA. The league’s newest phenom — a long-hyped French teen who stands 7 feet, 3 ½ inches tall and doesn’t turn 20 until Jan. 4 — is finally here, after being taken No. 1 by the Spurs in this year’s draft.
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And he wants to win. Everything.
“I mean, it’s incredible to watch,” Spurs forward Doug McDermott said. “He just does some things that you can’t really explain, that fans would be surprised by. He’s so coordinated for how tall he is, just a very unselfish player, can make any play and he’s very comfortable shooting from anywhere. So, it’s going to be a lot of a lot of fun this year.”
Maybe for the Spurs. For opponents, not so much. Some already have gotten a taste of what’s coming.
That includes Reggie Bullock. Evidently, Wembanyama — who was an excellent student — understands geometry and that the shortest distance between two points is typically a straight line. Perhaps that’s why he decided to dribble through Bullock’s legs in a preseason game against Houston; Bullock was near midcourt, got into a wide defensive stance, his feet probably four feet apart, so Wembanyama knocked the ball through the opening, ran by Bullock and continued his path to the basket without missing a stride.
Wembanyama wasn’t showing off; he was just playing the game.
“I think it’s a move that’s efficient and I’ve been visualizing it (for) weeks,” Wembanyama said. “I’ve been waiting for the occasion to try it. I think I don’t want to limit myself to what’s already been done — even this has been done — but I don’t want to limit myself to what’s conventional. I want to expand my game as much as I can and I think that was a good move, an efficient move.”
Other moves have been equally good and efficient, without the finesse.
Enter Thomas Bryant. The Miami Heat center is a big man — 6-foot-10, somewhere around 250 pounds, shoulders about as broad as one can find even in the land of giants that is the NBA. The Heat were playing the Spurs earlier this month and Wembanyama received a pass at the edge of the lane. He took one dribble, took off from outside the restricted area that stretches a few feet from the basket and dunked over Bryant with absolute ease. All Bryant could do was stare at the Heat bench, his face in complete disbelief.
“We’ve seen the footage, we’ve read about him, we’ve heard what everybody said about him,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But until you actually see it, live, in person, there’s no real way to describe it.”
Spoelstra is the coach with the second-longest current tenure with his team, behind only Popovich. There is a longstanding friendship between the two, just as there is great respect between the Spurs and Heat — born in large part from the NBA Finals matchups in 2013 and 2014.
And Spoelstra knows what Wembanyama will be able to do for the 74-year-old Popovich, the all-time winningest coach who probably won’t hear questions about retiring anytime soon. They were oft-asked in recent years; then the Spurs got Wembanyama and Popovich signed for five more seasons.
“I think that’s probably just piquing a great deal of interest,” Spoelstra said. “I mean, Pop is the one of the greatest that’s ever done it. He’s coached a lot of different kinds of teams, a lot of different kinds of players. And I think you want to coach guys that are totally unique.”
That’s what Wembanyama is. The combination of height, reach, skill and smarts has had the NBA drooling for years. The Spurs won 22 games last season — the third-worst season in franchise history — and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season. But the only win that really mattered came in a hotel ballroom in Chicago, when four ping-pong balls gave the Spurs victory in the draft lottery and the chance to take Wembanyama No. 1 overall.
“When you add a player with Victor’s abilities, your prospects look better,” Popovich said.
Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry, left, and Andre Iguodala kiss the Larry O'Brien Trophy after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of 2015 NBA Finals in Cleveland.
PRESEASON ROUNDUP
RAPTOIRS 134, WIZARDS 98: Scottie Barnes had 23 points and six rebounds before leaving with a sprained right foot, and Toronto beat visiting Washington to finish 4-0 in the preseason. Pascal Siakam added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Raptors and O.G. Anunoby had 15 points. Deni Avdija had 18 points and seven rebounds for the Wizards.
BUCKS 124, GRIZZLIES 116: Giannis Antetokounmpo had 26 points and seven rebounds and Khris Middleton saw his first preseason action in host Milwaukee’s victory over Memphis. Returning from offseason knee surgery, Middleton had six points and five assists in 12 minutes. Damain Lillard scored 19 points, shooting 6 of 14. Desmond Bane scored 24 points for Memphis.
76ERS 120, HAWKS 106: Joel Embiid scored 21 points — making 14 of 15 free throws — to lead Philadelphia past visiting Atlanta. Embiid was 3 of 12 from the floor. De’Anthony Melton led Philadelphia with 29 points, shooting 11 of 16. Tyrese Maxey had 15 points and 12 assists. Trae Young had 19 points and 10 assists for Atlanta.
PACERS 109, CAVALIERS 104: At Indianapolis, Buddy Hield scored 20 points and Obi Toppin had 17 points and nine rebounds in Indiana’s victory over Cleveland. Tyrese Haliburton added 14 points for Indiana. Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 28 points.
MAGIC 109, FLAMENGO 76: Trevelin Queen scored 24 points and Orlando beat Brazilian club Flamengo. Jett Howard scored 21 points for Orlando. Gui Deodato had 16 points for Flamengo.
MAVERICKS 114, PISTONS 104: Josh Green scored 22 points and Kyrie Irving had 17 points and 11 assists to help host Dallas beat Detroit. Luka Doncic did not play for the Mavericks. Rookie Malcolm Cazalon scored 16 points for Detroit.
ROCKETS 110, HEAT 104: In Houston, Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green each scored 20 points in the Rockets’ victory over Miami. R.J. Hampton led Miami with 17 points.
BRIEFLY
LAWSUIT: The mother of a woman killed near the University of Alabama in January has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against current Charlotte Hornets rookie Brandon Miller and two other men. Decarla Raietta Heard filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Alabama against Miller, former Crimson Tide player Darius Miles and another man, Michael Davis. Both Miles and Davis are charged with capital murder while Miller, the No. 2 NBA draft pick, was never charged with a crime.
