A welcome as warm as the temperature, which reached 38°C. Victor Wembanyama arrived by private jet in San Antonio (Texas), Friday 3:55 p.m. (10:55 p.m. in France), the day after the ceremony which made him the first Frenchman drafted in first position in NBA history.
The 19-year-old prodigy was greeted by some 300 excited fans. If the media were authorized to film his descent from the plane in the premises of the cool airport, the Spurs supporters, some of whom were present around mid-morning, installed under parasols and equipped with coolers, were gathered behind a wide chain-link fence on a roadside.
Seeing the device arrive, they yelled, like the day before during the evening of the draft broadcast in the AT & T Center filled with two-thirds of its 19,000 seats, “Wemby! Wemby! ” by waving French flags and new jerseys of the Texan team flocked with his name and his number 1.
Placards, each more inventive or funny than the other, have flourished. “Extraterrestrials exist and in the United States we welcome them! “, had written a fan, in reference to how Wembanyama is perceived by LeBron James who used this word.
Fans showed their excitement when they saw a young man stepping out of the plane in a white Spurs jersey. But it was actually Oscar, Victor’s brother, who appeared right after and hugged by the Spurs mascot. Then the pivot of 2.24 m offered a walkabout by fence interposed with the fans, to have their picture taken, all smiles and sign autographs.
A much more relaxed style than the day before
Wembanyama, white T-shirt over jogging, tap-socks, in a style far removed from his Louis Vuitton outfit the day before, took the time to shake hands with police bikers, waiting to escort him. In a large black van, he eventually left the scene and the fans continued to sing his praises. Insatiable and happy, in a ballet of horns.