Wembanyama puts on a 'top-five' show for Paris crowd

Victor Wembanyama said he played one of the best five games of his young career after delighting his home crowd in Paris on Jan 23 by scoring 30 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 140-110 rout of the Indiana Pacers.

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The 21-year-old centre took control of the game in a third-quarter performance when the Spurs roared into a 23-point lead.

Wembanyama was playing in the French league 11/2 years ago before his selection as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft set him on the path to global stardom.

Returning to France with the Spurs for the first time, the 2.21m player's first block of the game brought loud cheers from a crowd of nearly 16,000 at the sold-out Bercy Arena, where he helped France claim a silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

There was an even bigger roar when he scored his first points four minutes and 30 seconds into the game on the way to 15 first-half points.

"That was one of the matches that was closest to my heart," Wembanyama said. "And in terms of pure performance, it's in the top five. It means everything. It's crazy to have the public like that.