LAS VEGAS — They all stood, the fans who sold out Thomas & Mack Center on Friday night, as Victor Wembanyama jogged onto the court. That the game meant nothing, that the rosters were made up mostly of dreamers whose hopes eventually will be unfulfilled, meant nothing.
They stood because this was a moment — the 7-foot-4, No. 1 overall pick taking the court as an NBA player for the first time.
It was an event — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar walked into the arena pregame to see the teenager who could become the NBA’s next great big man. Wembanyama struggled, looking very much like a tentative 19-year-old instead of anything close to a finished project.
