Officially, Indiana will be the home team on the scoreboard when it plays San Antonio in Paris on Thursday. The teams arrived in Paris on Monday, with practices and other events scheduled throughout the week and then the games toward the end.
The Spurs were coming straight from the airport to a light workout in Nanterre β the place where Wembanyama started his pro career in the French league as a year-old. Ticket demand was off the charts. The games sold out in a day. Flight not included, of course. Then again, not everyone in attendance will have bought their tickets. Wembanyama arranged a treasure hunt for 10 tickets; there were QR codes hidden in five cities β Paris, Lyon, Lille, Marseille and Bordeaux β and he encouraged fans to start hunting.
Tony Parker and Boris Diaw helped the Spurs establish that relationship with France during their years in Spurs colors, and now the interest can be marked in plenty of ways off the court as well. Obviously, he just got done in the Olympics as well.
France played host to the Paris Games last summer and Wembanyama helped his home nation get to the gold-medal game against the U. He was spectacular in the final, scoring 26 points. Wembanyama settled for silver that night. The games this week are in the same arena as the Olympic final was. He was asked earlier this season how often he thinks about this trip and getting to play in Paris again.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton was on that U. Olympic team. The Spurs played in Miami on Sunday and lost, then stuck around for a few hours to have some dinner and get their body clocks right for the 8-hour flight from South Florida to France.
