Joe Shields rose from his floor seat in Frost Bank Center, in the corner across from the Spurs’ bench, the future gliding past him in long strides of wonder. He cheered. Less than one minute into his NBA debut, Victor Wembanyama blocked a shot by Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks. Soon after, Wemby sank a 3-pointer and Shields felt the crowd erupt like a thunderclap. “It was like a playoff atmosphere,” he said.
It took Shields an hour to get to the Spurs’ season-opener, to move past a road closure, through a crush of cars and settle into the seats he once shared with the late B.J. “Red” McCombs, his grandfather, the Spurs’ original owner. It took no time for him to grasp the next stage of Red’s vision.
“The whole point of the Spurs was to put San Antonio on the map,” said Shields, a vice president at McCombs Enterprises. And now?
“To bring them in front of the world.”
A global audience watched the Spurs and Wembanyama, the French phenom, fall to the Mavericks, 126-119, in a game charged with historic anticipation Wednesday night. The Spurs issued more than 20 media credentials to foreign outlets, the most ever for a regular season game, according to a team publicist. Reporters and camera crews flew in from France, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and multiple countries in Africa, joining another 130-plus credentialed media from the U.S. All to see a 7-foot-3 unicorn who can dribble like a point guard, drain threes like a shooting guard, wipe the glass like a power forward and protect the rim like a center.
Expectations for the 19-year-old rookie soared like the Tower of the Americas. During warmups, one French journalist predicted a 25-point, five rebound evening for Wemby. And why not? Twenty years ago, LeBron James dropped 25 points and grabbed six rebounds in his NBA debut. And with limited minutes during the preseason, Wemby averaged 19.3 points and 4.8 rebounds.
The Mavericks had other ideas. Their superman, Luka Doncic, finished with a triple double (33 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists), including a stepback dagger late in the fourth. And Wemby, the youngest member of a young team, got in foul trouble, which limited his time on the floor, as well as his production: 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and one block. For perspective, consider that Tim Duncan, the greatest Spur, started his NBA career with 15 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Shields looked past the numbers and stat lines and saw the international picture. “More eyeballs in France and Europe are on the Spurs,” he said.
As best as he can recall, Shields, 32, attended his first Spurs game at the age of 5. He grew up in the David Robinson era and proudly wore the Admiral’s No. 50 jersey to Wemby’s debut. Shields sat beside his grandfather, season after season, in the Alamodome, and later, in the arena, once known as the SBC Center. The grandson learned early about grandpa’s vision.
When McCombs began selling cars in San Antonio, he wanted the city to become nationally known, to grow from dusty outpost to major destination. The best and quickest way to accomplish that, he decided in the late 1960s, was to attract a professional sports franchise. So he bought the Spurs in 1973, signed the team’s first superstar, George Gervin, and watched the dream unfold.
“The funny thing is,” Shields said, “is that he didn’t even like basketball at the time.” And later? “He become Mr. Sports Economic Development.”
McCombs died in February, months before the Spurs won the lottery and drafted Wembanyama.
What would grandpa have thought about the rookie? Shields grins. McCombs would have loved every minute of the hype.
At least five murals have been painted across the city as a tribute to Wemby. A burger has been named after him. A hot dog, too. A local mariachi band released a music video with a one-word song, “Wembanyama,” which has gone viral, attracting more than 1.3 million views. Spurs fans went bonkers at the box office, according to a team publicist who said, “We’re at the highest number of season ticket accounts in franchise history.”
Wemby fever has swept the city. The energy exploded Wednesday night. The Spurs raced to an early lead and Wemby did not disappoint until he began fouling. Devin Vassell (23 points) continued his torrid shooting from the preseason and looked every bit like a future All-Star.
Keldon Johnson had his moments (17 points) and stirred the crowd.
Wemby, though, put the crowd on its feet and sent the noise through the roof. He scored nine points in the final seven minutes, dunking, sinking a pull-up jumper, draining a three, and pushed the Spurs ahead, briefly, 113-112. For a few tantalizing minutes, it seemed the rookie might deliver a W. He ran, he stretched, he leaped — but he could never quite find his rhythm and neither could the Spurs.
He looked dejected and sounded upset afterward. He also admitted to a bit of wonder. “It felt surreal” out there, he said.
Shields felt it. He felt a stirring, a tangible hope in the loss. The Spurs are building something special, a future that gleams. “We’re a young team,” the grandson said. “We had lots of great moments. It was a great first step.”
Grandpa took one step in 1973. Fifty years and five NBA championships later, San Antonio is taking another, and perhaps, raising its profile even higher than McCombs imagined.
