LAS VEGAS — Victor Wembanyama’s summer league debut has become an event.
A ticket to the Thomas & Mack Center on Friday night has become more expensive than one for most regular-season games.
The arena will be at capacity of nearly 18,000 for the second day of NBA Summer League play.
Wembanyama, the No. 1-overall pick by the Spurs in the NBA draft last month, will take the floor at 9 p.m. EDT, with all eyes on him as he faces the Hornets and No. 2 overall draft pick Brandon Miller in a game that will be broadcast by ESPN.
“It’s going to be intense,” Wembanyama told reporters. “I can’t wait to wear that Spurs jersey for [the] first time.”
The ultra-gifted 7-foot-3¹/₂ Frenchman, considered by experts the top prospect since LeBron James entered the league two decades ago, didn’t play with San Antonio in its two games in the California Classic Summer League this week, and has already said he won’t play for France in the upcoming FIBA World Cup.
He may not play more than a few games in Las Vegas after he led Boulogne-Levallois Metropolitans 92 to the LNB Pro A Finals last month, which has added even more significance to Friday night.
San Antonio’s second game in Las Vegas will come at 8 p.m. (EDT) Sunday against the Trail Blazers and Scoot Henderson, the third pick in the draft.
“I’ve never been able to enjoy a summer with several months of development for my body. For this new phase of my life, it’s essential,” Wembanyama said. “The Spurs staff are ready to make this summer profitable. We can’t afford for it to be wasted time.”
Wembanyama’s debut sold out a few days ago, only the second time that a summer league game has been sold out in advance.
The first time was 2019, for Zion Williamson’s hyped debut.
It will also be just the fifth time summer league has been sold out since it launched in 2004, and tickets are pricey.
The get-in price on the secondary market is $186, with tickets going for as high as $617 per seat, according to Gametime, a website for last-minute tickets.
By comparison, it will cost $50 to get into the slate of games Saturday, when Wembanyama’s Spurs will be off.
The NBA is already pushing Wembanyama from a marketing standpoint.
He will be featured in the inaugural NBA Con fan event, in which he will join commissioner Adam Silver as part of the ESPN-televised introduction on Saturday of the league’s new in-season tournament.
He will also have a conversation on stage with Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a session called “Exploring the Evolution of Basketball.”
But first, comes Friday night on the campus of UNLV.
The first step in Wembanyama’s journey into the NBA.
It won’t be any ordinary summer league game.
