Victor Wembanyama is ready to lead the charge for San Antonio against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday at the Accor Arena in Paris, France.

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 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.

Spurs center Victor Wembanyama showed love to the fans at home in France ahead of the NBA Paris Games against the Pacers.

In France, basketball is rapidly growing, and as the NBA looks to capitalize on that, they sent the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers to Paris to play a series of two games this week. While Accor Arena would likely be sold out anyway, the draw of Victor Wembanyama has been enough for the entire City of Lights to be abuzz with excitement.

Officially, Indiana will be the home team on the scoreboard when it plays San Antonio in Paris on Thursday. The Pacers know better.

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

The high octane glitz of NBA basketball will descend on Paris on Thursday night as the San Antonio Spurs - who feature the French star Victor Wembanyama - take on the Indiana Pacers in the first of two regular season games.

The Indiana Pacers arrived in Paris this week for a pair of games against the San Antonio Spurs. This marks the first time the NBA will play two regular-season games in the French capital in the same season.

Pregame analysis and predictions of the San Antonio Spurs vs. Indiana Pacers NBA game to be played on January 23, 2025 on ESPN.