Wemby admits to learning curve in 9-point debut

LAS VEGAS — It might not have been the show everyone expected to see, but Victor Wembanyama‘s summer league debut was a hot ticket on Friday night.

Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, and the Spurs defeated the Charlotte Hornets, with No. 2 pick Brandon Miller, 76-68 in front of a sellout crowd at the Thomas & Mack Center.

In just over 27 minutes, Wembanyama finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 blocks while going 2-of-13 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. He missed his first five 3-point attempts but drew a rousing ovation when his sixth attempt fell with just 2:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Wembanyama, whom the Spurs listed as a forward on their summer league roster, played a bit of the power forward and center spots throughout the game.

There were times when Wembanyama drew a defensive matchup against the 6-foot-9 Miller, including once in the second quarter when the 7-foot-3 French rookie blocked Miller’s shot on a 3-point attempt.

The Thomas & Mack Center sold out all 17,500 tickets for the night, only the second time the venue has been sold out the day prior to a summer league game. The other time was for Zion Williamson‘s debut in 2019.

Fans filled up the arena hours before the Spurs and Hornets tipped off. Since summer league is general admission, fans who wanted to sit up close had to get in as soon as the doors opened at 12:30 p.m.

By 3 p.m. local time, three full hours before the game was set to start, the entire lower bowl was already filled up and fans were starting to trickle into the upper deck.

In two games in the California Classic summer league, Miller averaged 12.0 points, 5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game but also had 10 turnovers and 15 fouls.

On Friday, Miller had a team-high 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 3 steals while committing 5 fouls and just 2 turnovers.