Victor Wembanyama, the NBA's Presumptive No. 1 Draft Pick, Botches 1st Pitch at Yankee Stadium
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The French phenom, 19, is expected to be selected first overall by the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night
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Basketball phenom Victor Wembanyama’s foray into American sports is underway — and it included an underwhelming first pitch at the Yankees game on Tuesday night.
The 19-year-old soon-to-be No. 1 NBA draft pick from France, wearing an open Yankees jersey and shorts, threw a fastball that landed more than just a bit outside the catcher’s reach.
Afterwards, the 7-foot-3 inch center smiled and gave a good-humored shrug.
On Wednesday, Wembanyama — who fans affectionately call “Wemby” — shared with reporters that he is trying to take all of the pre-draft buzz and excitement surrounding his NBA debut in stride.
"I don't let this, all this stuff, get into my head because I got such high expectations for myself that I'm immune to all this stuff,” he said. “So I really don't care."
On Thursday night, Wembanyama is widely expected to be drafted by the San Antonio Spurs, who won the rights to the first pick last month during the draft lottery.
While long thought of as a small market NBA city, San Antonio has landed big names before.
Two other No. 1 draft picks — David Robinson and Tim Duncan — were drafted by the Spurs. And it has also been a welcome landing place for Frenchmen Tony Parker and Boris Diaw.
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"For me, San Antonio is synonymous with winning," Wembanyama said on Wednesday of the Spurs, who have won five NBA titles since 1999. "When, on lottery night, when the Spurs got the No. 1 pick, I was just thinking, I was feeling lucky that they had pick as a franchise that has that culture and that experience in winning and making, creating good players. So I really can't wait."
In the meantime, Wembanyama is enjoying the sights of New York City, where he was spotted crouching to get into a tunnel, and later even jumping a turnstile as he took his first subway ride. All the while, fellow straphangers looked on, bemused.
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It’s all part of the game for the superstar-in-the-making.
"No one is going to stop me from dribbling the ball, bringing the ball up and shooting 3s,” he said. “Nobody is going to stop me from doing that. Even though sometimes coaches in my career would try to stop me from doing that because they had to win right now. So it was really an everyday fight to stay true to myself, and, yeah, this is something that I'm never going to lose, for sure."
The 2023 NBA Draft is on Thursday, June 22, with coverage starting at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
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