Tradition has it that the NBA draft, in France, is called a “lottery”. But the show that saw Victor Wembanyama be chosen in first position, Thursday, June 22, by the San Antonio Spurs, among the young talents wishing to join the famous American basketball league, was more circus games. A room of 17,000 people – the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn (New York) – with an overheated atmosphere. Players placed in the middle of the arena, with their families, like prey thrown at the mercy of the cameras and an audience quick to cheer, boo, or simply ignore.
Long minutes of waiting, above all, before the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, decides the fate of each lucky elected by calling him to go up on the stage and wear the cap of the franchise where will write its future, whether it is in New York, Los Angeles, or deep in Oklahoma.
In the case of Victor Wembanyama, there was no suspense. The Frenchman, dubbed a generational talent by basketball’s celebrities and seasoned pundits, knew he’d land in Texas ever since Spurs were awarded the privilege of picking in May. first a player among the candidates, aged 18 to 22. Never had a Frenchman been selected at such a level.
The most popular first name
What was uncertain, however, was the degree of emotion that would accompany this announcement. Throughout the year, the NBA has deployed its marketing acumen so that the former pivot of Boulogne-Levallois becomes a desirable product in the eyes of fans around the world. Even before joining the league, the phenomenon was in the top 10 of the most viewed players on NBA social networks. Efforts that have borne fruit, “Victor” having been the first name most chanted by the audience.
Spurs-themed shirts and caps dominated the Barclays Center. Some spectators had no hesitation in making the trip from Texas to attend an event experienced as a turning point in the history of their franchise. Others, less numerous – around twenty – had paid 3,000 dollars (2,740 euros) to benefit from the privilege of having dinner with their new idol. A feast organized Wednesday, at the headquarters of the NBA. Robert Holcomb, a serious-looking lawyer despite the Spurs cap on his head, came out charmed by the qualities of the 19-year-old man, described as mature and intelligent. “He told us about his grandmother’s soup, recounted the smell, the taste, the scene it evoked for him; it was very poetic”marvels the American, who had never heard of Marcel Proust’s aunt’s madeleines.
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