LAS VEGAS — There were ovations when Victor Wembanyama took the court at Thomas & Mack Center and was introduced to the sold-out crowd on Friday night.
The packed house was buzzing when Wembanyama won the opening tip for the Spurs and touched the ball for the first time.
There were gasps when the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft last month displayed the incredible athleticism in his 7-foot-3 1/2 frame, nearly threw down a baseline dunk with cartoonishly long strides or handled the ball in the open court.
Eventually, the buzz died down.
Reality hit.
This is going to take time.
Wembanyama, who has been hailed as the best prospect since LeBron James, struggled against strength and quickness.
His shot wasn’t falling — he missed seven of his first eight attempts — and he was at times passive.
He shot an airball on a contested 3-pointer and seemed fatigued in the second half.
Wembanyama was even dunked on by Kai Jones after switching and rotating back late.
He did sink a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter after missing his first five, and the crowd exploded in cheers.
He wasn’t even the Spurs’ best player Friday night — that honor went to former St. John’s star Julian Champagnie, who had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a 76-68 win over the Hornets.
Wembanyama finished with nine points on 2-for-13 shooting, eight rebounds and five blocks in 27 minutes.
Consider it an introduction to the challenge that awaits.
As wondrous and unique as Wembanyama may be, he is entering the unknown. Not even James faced pressure this extensive.
The social media hot-take era is ready to anoint or lambaste the skilled big man.
There were even a few brief, but audible, “overrated” chants Friday.
Odds are, Wembanyama will find criticism before praise. Go take a look at recent phenoms. They lose upon their arrival in the NBA because the worst teams are in position to draft them. The Cavaliers went 35-47 in James’ first season. The Pelicans were 30-42 in Zion Williamson’s first season. It takes time to change that.
Wembanyama isn’t joining a ready-made roster with the Spurs. San Antonio hasn’t won more than 34 games in any of the past four years.
It is young and rebuilding. Wembanyama is unlikely to make the playoffs as a rookie, although that hasn’t changed his mindset.
“I’m gonna [do] everything to win as many games as possible,” he told ESPN before the draft. “I’m trying to win a ring ASAP, so be ready.”
Wembanyama has said all the right things so far, and is doing them.
He has handled the intense media scrutiny well, showing impressive maturity, and his decision to skip the FIBA World Cup later this summer to better prepare himself for his rookie year makes sense.
He is coming off a long season, in which he led Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 to the finals of the French league LNB Pro A.
“He’s got a great disposition, a good combination of intellectual ability and an emotional intelligence at the same time,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said on draft night. “He understands what hype is. He understands all the attention he’s getting, but he still welcomes it, deals with it. … So I think he understands that there’s a way to handle that responsibility and still let people feel somewhat close to him.
“So he doesn’t need a lot of advice in that area.”
It began Friday night, in just the second time a summer league game day was sold out in advance.
The first time was for Williamson’s debut in 2019.
Everyone wanted to get eyes on the player experts believe will be the NBA’s next superstar.
But as history shows, it’s not going to happen overnight.
