Believe the hype: The Wemby Effect is real in San Antonio

Devin Vassell hasn’t had much success over the past three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. The team has a .377 winning percentage since drafting it with the 11th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. They have lost twice in the first round of the play-in tournament and have posted l Last year was the franchise’s worst record since 1996-97.

So, with just hours before the Spurs’ 2023 preseason debut against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Vassell was understandably surprised by one aspect of that night’s game.

“I mean, a preseason game on fucking NBA TV?” Vassell said. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

This is the Victor Wembanyama effect in action.

The Spurs’ 22-60 mark in 2022-23 led to an NBA draft lottery win and the right to select the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama, who has been hailed as the NBA’s top prospect since LeBron James has entered the league. with fanfare in 2003.

Wembanyama’s arrival once again put the spotlight on San Antonio. Nationally televised matches will now be commonplace. Even in pre-season.

The Spurs’ preseason opener against the Thunder was on NBA TV. The preseason home opener against the Miami Heat was on TNT. Their regular season opener against the Dallas Mavericks will air on ESPN (October 25 at 9:30 p.m. ET).

This season, the Spurs are scheduled to play 19 games on ESPN, ABC, TNT or NBA TV, including four of their first eight. They were on national television only once last season (when they hosted the Golden State Warriors at the Alamodome to break the NBA single-game attendance record). It’s possible that more national television appearances will be added as the season goes on – and Wembanyama is posting the kind of tantalizing highlights that have excited fans so far in October.

And while it’s just a national appetite, the buzz in San Antonio continues to grow. Several murals have been erected around town, including one depicting Wembanyama eating a taco – a mural that Wembanyama himself posed in front of while, of course, eating a taco.

The Spurs had 4,000 new season ticket deposits ahead of the 2023-24 season. The team now has the most season ticket accounts – including partial packages – in team history.

In the 48 hours following Wembanyama’s selection, Spurs saw their online traffic and sales increase by 3,000% compared to the previous year.

When San Antonio held media day on October 2, there were 100 responses from various media outlets.

On October 7, San Antonio drew 13,200 fans for the Silver and Black Scrimmage, an open practice and scrimmage where fans got their first in-person view of Wembanyama playing home basketball. The fans were waiting in line around the block hours before tip-off just to get in.

The Spurs drew 17,214 fans for the team’s home preseason opener on Friday, following an average of 16,937 per game during the regular season in 2022-23. It was the highest-grossing preseason game on record for a Spurs franchise that plays its home games under five NBA championship banners. On-field seats for the team’s home opener are listed on the secondary market for $6,000.

The attention the Spurs are attracting is comparable to — or in some cases greater than — the levels they saw when David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard were walking down the River Walk with the Larry O’Brien Trophy in hand. But the attention-grabbing 19-year-old rookie isn’t worried about the hype that’s descending on him or his teammates.

“They know I’m not interested,” Wembanyama said at the media day. “I am here to make sacrifices for them and I believe that when necessary, they will also make sacrifices for me.

“And they know it’s different. They know it’s going to happen. Of course, there will be a lot of attention, but that’s at the end of the day, when everything is done and we’re at the practice and I’m like, “Yeah, OK, what do we do to make this thing better?” So those are really things that we’re not interested in. It’s basketball first.

Spurs forward Keldon Johnson says Wembanyama’s humility goes a long way in ensuring inflated expectations and attention don’t affect the team.

“He doesn’t let the hype or the media come into his life or affect him as a person,” Johnson said at media day. “He’s been outgoing and energetic and great. He’s been great. All the other things that come with Vic being an incredible basketball player, we keep that aside.”

Wembanyama has made sure to do his part to live up to the hype so far. Each evening generated highlight pieces that generated millions of views on social media.

Hours after Vassell made his comments about playing on national television in the preseason opener, Wembanyama showed why. Late in the second quarter, Wembanyama faked a defender at the 3-point line, took two dribbles to his right, returned to the lane, jumped, and finished with a sneaky layup with his left hand around Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 draft and the player widely considered to be Wembanyama’s top competition for Rookie of the Year this season.

Plays like this not only leave fans in awe, but teammates as well.

“It makes no sense that he can do things like that,” Spurs goalkeeper Malaki Branham said. “It’s mind-blowing. … You just shake your head. I’m glad he’s on our team, for sure.”