After a trip to his former club Nanterre the day before, Victor Wembanyama returned this Tuesday to his town of Chesnay-Rocquencourt (Yvelines), west of Paris. The basketball star inaugurated two basketball courts there, partly financed by the San Antonio Spurs foundation.
Despite the bitter cold enveloping Île-de-France at the start of the year, Victor Wembanyama did not bring out a hat, scarf or large coat. The French basketball star showed up in a simple gray tracksuit during his return to his town of Chesnay-Rocquencourt, west of the capital. As part of the NBA Paris Games, the San Antonio giant came this Tuesday to the town of Yvelines where he grew up to inaugurate two basketball courts (one for 5×5 and one for 3×3), partly financed by the founding of Spurs (nearly 390,000 euros). A project that he himself initiated. Corentin Cormerais, an artist from Seine-Saint-Denis, drew a revisited Spurs logo on the ground, adding the Chesnay-Rocquencourt clock tower, symbol of Wemby's attachment to its stronghold of 78.
Several of his teammates within the Texan franchise were by his side to participate in the event, like Harrison Barnes, Tre Jones and Zach Collins, who took the time to sign autographs for the many children gathered nearby. from the Pierre-Curvat gymnasium. Just like Coyote, San Antonio's mascot. Wemby also interacted with his young fans, before improvising an alley-oop with one of them and taking a group video, posted by the official Spurs account.
“This land is for you”
“What happiness and what emotions to be here,” said the local hero to loud applause from the audience. “It's really incredible to be in my hometown. I see a lot of familiar faces. There's my family of course, my friends, a lot of people I met growing up in this city. This project, which dates back just a few months, was made possible thanks to the incredible and continuous efforts of several people: Mr. Prefect, the department, the town of Chesnay-Rocquencourt, Mr. Mayor (Richard Delepierre), the Spurs obviously. the most important thing is you, the children and the students who motivated this project. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, this land is for you. It was one of my dreams to have a land. quality self-service to be able to play basketball.”
-The day before, following his arrival at the start of the afternoon at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport, the Olympic vice-champion visited his training club in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), where he began his professional career, before signing with Asvel then Boulogne-Levallois. His arrival created enormous excitement at the Palais des Sports Maurice-Thorez, where he held a first press conference. The opportunity to express his happiness at returning to his homelands with rock star status.
Louis-Vuitton fashion show, PSG-City and two matches against the Pacers
After the inauguration of the Chesnay grounds, Wemby is expected at the Louis Vuitton fashion show organized this Tuesday late afternoon as part of Paris Fashion Week. The 21-year-old will then come to support PSG against Manchester City in the Champions League, this Wednesday at the Parc des Princes (9 p.m.), before playing two highly anticipated NBA matches against the Indiana Pacers at the Accor Arena in Bercy. The first Thursday evening, the second Saturday. In the meantime, the No. 1 in the 2023 draft will pose with his teammates during a photo session scheduled for Friday in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Alexandre Jaquin with Maria Azé
