MIKE EHRMANN / Getty Images via AFP
The matches of Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs during the NBA's visit to Paris next January will be broadcast unencrypted by Canal+ (illustrative photo taken in February 2024 in Orlando, Florida).
BASKETBALL – After an Olympic summer where he won a fantastic silver medal at Bercy, Victor Wembanyama is preparing to return to the famous Parisian venue. And like at the Olympics, it will be possible to watch the exploits of the 2.21m basketball player for free, a rarity at a time when sport has become a premium product on French television.
As with the NBA's last two visits to Paris, the Canal+ group announced, this Tuesday, December 10, that it had acquired the broadcast rights for the matches. Rights that the encrypted channel shares with BeIN Sports, but which it intends to use openly to the general public (without having yet announced on which channel).
“Wemby” and the Spurs on the rise
This is how the two matches between Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs and American gold medalist Tyrese Haliburton's Indiana Pacers will be broadcast unencrypted on January 23 and 25.
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Since 2020, and a very first official meeting in Paris which pitted the Milwaukee Bucks against the Charlotte Hornets, the NBA has been trying to establish itself permanently in the capital. In January 2023, after the forced Covid break, it was the Chicago Bulls who faced the Detroit Pistons, before seeing the Brooklyn Nets meet the Cleveland Cavaliers a year later.
But if several frenchies as Nicolas Batum and Killian Hayes have already set foot on the French courts during an NBA match, none had the stature of “Wemby”, described as “ alien » by the most prestigious of his peers, LeBron James. A young Frenchman who, at the age of 20 and despite some physical problems, is having a successful start to the season, where he notably broke his record with 50 points scored in mid-November against the Washington Wizards. All while taking his entire team with him, since after finishing second to last in their conference last year, the Spurs are this year in the fight for the playoffs.
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