The San Antonio Spurs have been the center of attention for most of the last few months, or at least since they won the NBA Draft lottery. In turn, they were able to select Victor Wembanyama with the first pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and the 19-year-old big man is already a superstar.
Ever since the Spurs selected him, Wembanyama has been the talk of the town around the NBA world. In just his first Summer League game, the arena was sold out, and the environment in the arena felt like that of a regular season affair. He’s even getting attention from celebrities.
At this year’s edition of the ESPY Awards, rapper Lil Wayne performed his hit song, “A Milli,” but changed up the lyrics. Wembanyama got a shoutout.
“You Pop ‘em ‘cause we pop ‘em like we coaching Wembanyama,” Wayne said.
Wembanyama hasn’t appeared in an NBA game yet, but he’s already getting name-dropped by rappers and earning a ton of social media attention. He’s a generational talent on the court, but off the court, he’s shaping up to be an absolute icon.
Throughout the years, the Spurs have been known for their quiet, win-first approach. Their stars – Tim Duncan, David Robinson, etc. – have kept their heads down, gotten to work, and reaped the rewards.
And while Wembanyama fully plans to accomplish the latter two things on that list, he may end up embracing the spotlight more than his San Antonio predecessors.
Spurs fans should be very excited for the Wembanyama era.
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