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00:00Talk about a homecoming, France's Victor Wembañana coming off his rookie of the year season in the NBA,
00:09taking his San Antonio Spurs to Paris.
00:13Wembañana, or Wemby as he's known, a native of the suburb of Nanterre,
00:19where he and the team practiced ahead of a home-and-home match.
00:24It'll be taking place here in the French capital, beginning later this evening against the Indiana Pacers.
00:32With his unmistakable 7-foot-4 silhouette, Victor Wembañana is back on the courts in Nanterre.
00:41On Monday, the French NBA star trained with his teammates at the club where he began his professional career,
00:47this as the San Antonio Spurs are set to play two matches against the Indiana Pacers in Paris on Thursday and Saturday.
00:55It's already being dubbed Wemby Week, and fans welcomed him home like a hero.
01:01The power forward described it as an emotional return.
01:05There was a lot of excitement, and it was even a bit surreal to see all my teammates in this arena where I've spent so much time.
01:13It's like two worlds coming together, and so far it's going well.
01:17In any case, it's a real pleasure. It's very emotional."
01:23Despite being closer to family and friends, Wembañana said he wouldn't see anyone on game days and would stick to his pre-match routine.
01:32The 21-year-old has only played one full NBA season, but is already tipped to be one of the greats.
01:38He was named Rookie of the Year in 2024, and this season his performance seems to be only getting better, averaging about 25 points per game.
01:48Next month, he is expected to be made an All-Star, one of the league's top players.
01:54And for more, let's cross to Maxime Aubin, U.S. correspondent for French sports daily newspaper L'Equipe.
02:03Maxime, you've made the trip to the French capital. You weren't going to miss this.
02:09Yeah, exactly. I made the move to San Antonio like a year and a half ago to be able to follow Wembañana on a daily basis.
02:18We realized at L'Equipe that it was something really important for us.
02:22We really wanted to follow his path, his career, all the way in the U.S.
02:28For me, being able to be here, make the move, and to follow him closely, it's a great pleasure to be here.
02:35I'm at the arena right now, and you can feel the atmosphere.
02:40It's incredible. He has a Rookie of the Year season, and he just has incredible poise for someone who is 21.
02:50When he fields interviews, when he's on the court trash-talking the opponents trying to contain him, Wemby is a cool customer.
03:03Yeah, he's very cool, very mature for his age. You just said it. He's only 21. He just turned 21.
03:09You know, seeing him every day on a daily basis, I realize he's an old soul.
03:16To me, he looks like he's 40 or 50 years old. He always has smart things to say, great poise.
03:26The basketball player is really interesting, but the human being behind the basketball player is even more fascinating.
03:35I think that's what makes Wemby that special.
03:38We're seeing images from a press conference he did earlier in the day, Maxime.
03:42There, he said that one of his big points of pride was being able to show his teammates around Paris, some of those teammates who'd never been to France.
03:52Exactly. He's been telling me for weeks in the U.S., I can't wait for this trip to Paris to happen.
03:59He's all about giving back to his community, to his country.
04:05You just said earlier that he's from the suburbs of Paris.
04:08On Tuesday, he was covering an event in his hometown, unveiling two basketball courts, two new basketball courts.
04:17150 kids there, and he spent some time with them.
04:22So, yeah, it's really important for him, for the kids, for his teammates, to bring them to Paris and to bring the NBA, to bring his team, the Spurs, to Paris.
04:31It means a lot to him. Yeah, definitely.
04:34What is it about French players doing so well, the French teams doing so well?
04:39After all, finalists in both the men's and women's basketball at the Olympics.
04:46Yeah, you're right. We have a very good program in France, you know, for developing young players.
04:51What we can do in France is that the young players, like Victor Wembanyama, was able to play professional at a very young age.
04:59He was like, I think, 15 or 16 years old.
05:02And you cannot do that in the U.S., for example, where the players have to go through college.
05:08So I think it's part of why more and more players want to play in France, you know, to develop in France.
05:15And then they are ready to make the move to the U.S. and play in the NBA.
05:20Yeah, you have the likes of Gianni Antetokounmpo from Greece, Nikola Jokic from Serbia.
05:31They're most valuable players. What's going on?
05:35Why are Europeans dominating the American Basketball League?
05:42Yeah, very good question.
05:45It's interesting. In fact, the NBA is investing a lot in the international game.
05:51They want to expand the league. You know, 50 years ago, the NBA was a very American league.
05:58And now they are trying to get new people to follow them all around the world.
06:04So they are investing a lot of money, a lot of effort to bring foreign players,
06:10to bring games, you know, in France, in Europe, in Asia, all over the world.
06:15So you can see this week the Spurs in Paris. This is exactly that that's happening, you know.
06:21The NBA is trying to bring the game here and to grow, you know, the league at the end of the day.
06:28It's funny because we're living in an age where in the United States you have regime change with talk of tariffs, shutting borders.
06:36And here you're talking about, well, you're describing a tale of globalization, Maxime.
06:43Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how the league is evolving in the political context in the U.S., right?
06:51Actually, I think we asked the question to the commissioner of the NBA yesterday, Adam Silver.
06:57And he was really, let's say, weird about it. He said like, yeah, we're going to try to continue to be global.
07:04But at the same time, we got to do what we can with, you know, the politicians we have in the U.S.
07:10So, yeah, it's a very good question about the next four years, you know, in the U.S.
07:16And let's see if the NBA can really grow the league as they want to do with the context in the U.S.
07:23So, Maxime, let me ask you a personal question before we go.
07:26What do people in San Antonio think of the French?
07:30You know what? They really love him.
07:34His birthday. What people need to know is that in San Antonio, in a country that loves sports so much,
07:42there's only one professional team in any sport in San Antonio.
07:46This is the Spurs. So people are so in love about Spurs.
07:51They have been winning championships for years.
07:55The last, let's say, five, six years have been terrible.
07:58Then Wembley arrived and now people are like back to think that they're going to win again.
08:07So they just love Wembley and Wembley is very nice to them.
08:12He's really, like I said, mature and very smart.
08:14So he knows, you know, how to be nice with them as well.
08:19So it's a very good relationship.
08:21Maxime Aubin, many thanks. Enjoy the game.
08:24The San Antonio against Indiana there.
08:27Thanks for being with us.
08:29Thank you very much.