The main events start Thursday when Wembanyama and the Spurs take on the Indiana Pacers in the first of two games in Paris. The rematch is Saturday, both happening at Accor Arena, the same building where Wembanyama played in the knockout round of the Paris Olympics last summer when he and France wound up losing to the U.S. in the gold-medal game.

Before the Spurs drafted Wembanyama No. 1 in 2023, they selected a Frenchman named Tony Parker with the No. 28 pick in 2001.

The Pacers are in Paris because someone has to be the opponent to French phenom Victor Wembanyama, but they're getting everything out of the trip.

Wembanyama was born and raised in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt, a western Paris suburb, and has made it a focus this week to introduce his teammates to Parisian culture and the life he led before he became the NBA Rookie of the Year and likely next face of the league.

The teams arrived in Paris on Monday, with practices and other events scheduled throughout the week and then the games toward the end. The Spurs were coming straight from the airport to a light workout in Nanterre — on the court that Wembanyama called home when started his pro career in the French league as a 15-year-old.