The AT&T Center on San Antonio’s East Side exploded with emotion, cheers and excitement as the San Antonio Spurs selected Victor Wembanyama as the official No. 1 pick of the NBA draft.
The crowd was filled with San Antonio locals and loyal Spurs fans in anticipation of the impact Wembanyama will have for the team in the years to come.
The excitement had been building up all week and reached its climax Thursday night, when Wembanyama officially became a Spur during the draft in Brooklyn, New York.
“With the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA draft, the San Antonio Spurs select Victor Wembanyama,” read NBA Commissioner Adam Silver — then the crowd inside the AT&T Center went wild.
After the announcement, Wembanyama walked up to put on the Spurs cap, sending the hometown crowd nearly 2,000 miles away into cheers. They chanted, “Wemby! Wemby! Wemby!”
The athlete couldn’t hold back his tears during an interview after the announcement. Joined by his brother and sister, Wembanyama said he was grateful.
“This is something I’ve been dreaming of, … I gotta cry,” Wembanyama said. “I’m going try to learn as quick as possible because I want to win that ring.”
For days, San Antonians had been swept up in a rising tide of Wembymania, with banners hung at local businesses, restaurants and even at City Hall to welcome the 7-foot-5 Frenchman to South Texas. After experiencing four consecutive losing seasons, fans see the rookie as a franchise player who can make the Spurs an NBA title contender once again.
Across San Antonio, banners and art emblazoned buildings from City Hall to local businesses and restaurants, welcoming the French forward.
Local muralist Colton Valentine painted Wembanyama along the outside of a building, and artist Oscar Alvarado built an 18-foot-tall Wemby statue in Southtown with Spurs decorations surrounding the figure.
The mania began when the Spurs won the NBA draft lottery last month, giving them the No. 1 pick Wembanyama, who is 19 and wears a size 20 1/2 shoe. He is widely regarded as the best NBA prospect since LeBron James, chosen with the first pick in 2003 by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Wembanyama averaged 21.6 points and 10.4 rebounds per game for his French professional team.
Spurs fans had lined up by the hundreds as early as 12:30 p.m. for the draft watch party at the AT&T Center. Among the first people to arrive was Spurs collector Colby Parker, who traveled to San Antonio from Austin to be among the first in line at 2 p.m. for new Wembanyama merch.
“Right when I got inside, I headed over here,” he said, wearing a vintage, baby blue Spurs hat and Manu Ginobili sweatshirt.
On Thursday, the Spurs had the No. 1 draft pick for the third time in franchise history, winning the draft lottery all three times. In 1987, the selection of center David Robinson at No. 1 led to the team’s first NBA championship in 1999. The Spurs landed the top selection again in 1997, gaining forward Tim Duncan, who led the team to four more titles in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.
“David Robinson and Duncan were before my time, I didn’t get to watch them,” Parker said. “I wish I got to watch them, but I feel like we’ve been needing a new big man ever since before Tim Duncan retired, and I feel that Wemby is that guy.”
Wembanyama’s highly anticipated arrival comes on the heels of the Spurs’ 50th anniversary season, in which the team posted a 22-60 record, the second-worst mark in the NBA behind the Detroit Pistons.
Parker said the Spurs’ 2022-2023 season was “tough,” adding that losing Dejounte Murray impacted the team heavily.
As soon as the official announcement was made at 7:11 p.m., black curtains hiding the new merchandise rose, revealing Wembanyama jerseys, and letting in the first people in a line that wrapped around the fan shop.
The line began chanting, “Go Spurs Go!”
Thousands of people attended the watch party. Among them was the well-known “Spurs Lady,” 70-year-old Sovia Lauriano, who combined the iconic Fiesta-style sombreros with Spurs colors and logos.
It took Lauriano a day and a half to create her look, which included silver cowgirl boots with Wembanyama’s photo glued on.
“I love my Spurs no matter what, unconditionally. I tell these people, if you’re going to be a Spurs fan, you gotta do it unconditionally. You gotta give them a chance, and Wemby is going to do it,” she said. “Wemby is going to rebuild the team and we’re going all the way.”
Waving a sarape in the air and pointing toward his finger — signaling the desire for the Spurs to win a championship ring — Ricardo Fernandez traveled from San Diego for the watch party.
Fernandez, a San Antonio native and Marine Corps veteran, described Wembanyama as a “shooting star,” and predicted that he will change the city “astronomically.”
When Duncan joined the Spurs in 1997, Fernandez said he was a young father.
“I brought my son to Spurs games at the Alamodome when he was a kid. My son now is 25, and it created a bond between us that is unmatched,” Fernandez said.
“The Spurs are more than basketball.”
Flora Farr and Isabella Sandoval contributed to this report.
