SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama went to All-Star weekend in Indianapolis last year as one of the featured attractions. The San Antonio star was at the league's Tech Summit, plus played in the Rising Stars event and was a participant in the Skills Challenge.
He left all that with a clear goal.
“Next year, hopefully, the big game,” Wembanyama said.
Next year is here. The big game — or games, perhaps — await.
Wembanyama, to no one's surprise, is a first-time All-Star who'll compete in the NBA's new All-Star mini-tournament on Sunday in San Francisco. He'll have these seven players for teammates: Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Indiana’s Pascal Siakam, New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, Atlanta’s Trae Young and another first-timer — Houston's Alperen Sengun.
Wembanyama's selection almost seemed like a formality. The league's reigning rookie of the year is already a global name; the NBA says Wembanyama content on social media is among the most viewed of all players and his jersey ranks No. 5 on the league's worldwide sales list.
“I’ve been talking to a few people about a moment he had when he was in New York,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "He played the Knicks on Christmas Day and then he played the Brooklyn Nets a few days later, so he spent some time in New York, and Victor, who plays chess, went down to a famous park in New York City, Washington Square Park, and brought his chess board and just began playing a few games, and within a few days, something like 100 million people had seen that on social media.
“So, it just speaks to the popularity of Victor and the dramatic interest we’re seeing in players’ lifestyles and their interests and everything they enjoy doing. That was remarkable.”
There are six All-Star rookies in this year's event: Wembanyama, Sengun, Miami's Tyler Herro, Cleveland's Evan Mobley, Detroit's Cade Cunningham and Oklahoma City's Jalen Williams. Of that group, Wembanyama is the youngest (just turned 21), the tallest (officially 7-foot-3) and will surely be the one with the most eyeballs on him in San Francisco this weekend.
“I think that was one of the most active days that we’ve had in our group chat since the summer when Vic made the All-Star Game," Spurs forward Harrison Barnes said. “I think it was really just a testament to the person that he is. Obviously, he works extremely hard. He gets so much attention, and he always tries to put it back on the team, make it more about the team and less about him.”
Of the six All-Star rookies, Herro is the oldest and the one who's been in the NBA the longest. He's averaging 23.5 points this season.
“Man, I’m truly proud of him because there has been a lot of media that’s thrown that man’s name in the mud,” Heat captain Bam Adebayo said. “Thrown his name in trade rumors, y’all said he’s not good enough, he can't do this, he can't do that, all the way to down to somebody's wingspan. It's a testament to him.”
For Williams, the All-Star trip is a homecoming of sorts. The Thunder guard played his college basketball at Santa Clara, about an hour from Chase Center — where he'll play on Sunday night.
“What am I most excited about? Honestly, I haven’t seen my parents in a minute, so that’ll be cool to see them out there," Williams said. "I’m going to be down the street from my school basically, so I think that’s going to be cool. I’ll be able to see some people I haven’t seen in a while.”
Cunningham is leading one of the NBA surprise stories this season: The Pistons, who were awful a year ago, are squarely in the playoff mix right now and his 25.4 points per game are obviously a big reason why that's happening.
“It's a great feeling. It's hard to put words on it,” Cunningham said. “It's been a lot of work, a lot of wins, losses, lessons, all that stuff that's led up to this point. I'm just thankful for the moment.”
Sengun is part of another turnaround in Houston; the Rockets made a push that fell short of the playoffs last year, but now are in position to even have home-court advantage in Round 1 of what will surely be a loaded postseason in the Western Conference.
“Thank you to my team, my country, the city of Houston and all the fans for believing in me,” Sengun said. “This is just the beginning.”
And for Mobley, the All-Star nod shows that people still notice defense and rebounding in the NBA. He's one of the leaders of a Cleveland team that goes into the break leading the Eastern Conference and is right there with Oklahoma City for the best record in the NBA.
“I worked real hard to get to this point,” Mobley said. “Hopefully more to come.”
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