Wembanyama stars as Spurs beat Pacers in Paris
Victor Wembanyama was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 2024
- Published
France's Victor Wembanyama inspired the San Antonio Spurs to a 140-110 victory over the Indiana Pacers at Accor Arena in Paris.
In the first of two regular-season NBA games played in the French capital this week, the Spurs ripped up the form book courtesy of Wembanyama, who scored a game-high 30 points.
Wembanyama, 21, played for Paris-based Metropolitans 92 before being selected as the number one overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Spurs.
He was playing in his homeland for the first time since winning a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
It is the fourth year that the NBA has staged regular-season matches in Paris, with the Cleveland Cavaliers beating the Brooklyn Nets in 2024.
As is often the case when the NBA takes to the road in Europe, plenty of high-profile faces turned out to watch, including injured Manchester City midfielder Rodri, Paris-St Germain's Achraf Hakimi, Ousmane Dembele and Presnel Kimpembe and Barcelona trio Pedri, Ferran Torres and Eric Garcia.
Former France international footballers Robert Pires and Djibril Cisse and UFC fighter Ciryl Gane were also in attendance alongside former French Prime Ministers Gabriel Attal and Lionel Jospin.
The Spurs were underdogs going into the match after losing six of their eight games in 2025, while the Pacers stepped on to court with eight victories from nine since the turn of the year.
However, returning to home soil inspired Wembanyama who put on his highest-scoring performance in eight games.
San Antonio's Devin Vassell also chipped in with 25 points and Harrison Barnes added 20 to halt a three-game losing streak.
The Spurs, who sit 12th in the Western Conference, and the Pacers, who are fifth in the Eastern, meet again at Accor Arena on Saturday (17:00 GMT).
Paris St-Germain players Achraf Hakimi, Ousmane Dembele and Presnel Kimpembe were courtside
Injured Manchester City midfielder Rodri has been ruled out for the season
Djibril Cisse (centre-left) won 41 caps with France and Ciryl Gane (centre-right) has won 10 of his 12 fights in the UFC
Robert Pires was part of the Arsenal Invicibiles squad that won the Premier League title in 2003-04