Mark Burnett can’t get Victor Wembanyama out of his head. Well, he could, but it would be like stealing a knife from the Mona Lisa.
Burnett, a San Antonio Spurs superfan, had Wembanyama’s likeness cut into the side of his head just over a week ago by Joe Barajas, a well-known local barber. He, like pretty much everyone else in the basketball world, expected the Spurs to select Wembanyama as the No. 1 pick overall in the NBA draft on Thursday.
“I wanted to show Victor something special that the city of San Antonio already loves him,” Burnett said at a draft night party at the Spurs’ home arena, just before San Antonio actually picked Wembanyama, who shared a photo of Burnett on his Instagram -Account.
Fanatical? Possibly. But also extremely sensible, and not just because of the big promise made by Wembanyama, a 19-year-old French basketball star. As San Antonio’s only major professional sports franchise, Spurs are the beating heart of the seventh largest city in the United States.
“I want to do my best in every aspect of the job,” Wembanyama said during his introductory press conference in San Antonio on Saturday. “The fans were the best at their job. I can only hope to be at their level.”
However, this magic has recently disappeared in the River City. The Spurs haven’t made the playoffs in the last four seasons; They had done it every year since 1997, winning five championships. A miserable 2022-23 season, in which they had the worst record in the Western Conference, provided one bright spot: a tie with the best chance of picking up the No. 1 draft. Now they have Wembanyama.
“It’s going to be a huge boost for the economy,” said Aaron Peña, who owns two bars in San Antonio and plans to open another in two weeks. “We are already planning to host not just opening parties, but every Spurs game. It’s going to be a party.”
For some entrepreneurs, the party has already begun. Chip Ingram owns Roo Pub, an Aussie-style bar inspired by Patty Mills, a former Spurs guard from Australia. Ingram attracted a huge crowd at his pub on May 16 after announcing he would foot the bill if Spurs won that night’s draft lottery. That night might have cost him a pretty penny as Spurs won, but Ingram said the limelight was more than worth it.
Ingram has updated its menu with a “Wemby Burger” that includes foie gras and French onion strips. After a $1 special on draft night, the burger is now $21.50 – a nod to Spurs legends Tim Duncan, who wore the number 21, and David Robinson, who wore the number 50. They, too, were the No. 1 picks.
Economic research casts doubt on the potential strength of the Wembanyama Effect in San Antonio. A 2017 study by Harvard University’s Daniel Shoag and American Enterprise Institute’s Stan Veuger found that the return of LeBron James to Cleveland in 2014 increased the number of restaurants and other places to eat and drink near the Cavaliers arena increased. But that wasn’t the case in Miami when James joined the Heat in 2010, despite having a significant impact on employment near the arenas in both cities. Economists have long argued that professional sports franchises and their stadiums don’t do much to support local economies.
“I think people will definitely be interested in the Spurs, but it just gives San Antonio more exposure,” said Julián Castro, the former mayor of San Antonio who was also secretary of housing and urban development under President Barack Obama. “It gives the city a boost because it’s in the national spotlight. It increases awareness and visibility of the city among people, and that’s always good for business.”
Shea Serrano, a San Antonio-based writer and television writer, never misses an opportunity to talk about his beloved Spurs. He said he “lost his mind” when Spurs won the draft lottery.
“At that moment in the city it felt like we had won another championship,” he said.
Spurs chief operating officer Brandon Gayle said the team has seen a sharp increase in demand for season tickets – and it’s from a younger, more diverse demographic than usual. According to the US Census Bureau, San Antonio’s population is approximately 66 percent Hispanic or Latino of any race and 23 percent White, with less than 10 percent of residents identifying as Asian or Black/African American. Gayle said the Spurs are looking to expand their reach further into Mexico and Austin, Texas, where the team has played several games in recent seasons.
From the opening of Spurs’ arena, the AT&T Center, before the 2002-03 season to the 2018-19 season, when the team last made the playoffs, San Antonio has consistently ranked in the top half of NBA attendance. They’ve been in the bottom five for the past two seasons
Carly Tovar represents the second generation of a three generation Spurs family. She attended the draft night party with her young son, Mario Calderon, and her father, Ralph Tovar, who became passionate about Spurs when the team relocated from Dallas in the 1970s. Spurs won their first title in 1999 when Carly was still in high school. Despite her father’s protests, she went downtown to attend the celebration, which saw fans stroll the freeway, cheeringly honking their car horns and enjoying the win over the Knicks.
“I came up with David Robinson and Avery Johnson and I got to appreciate the next generation with Duncan and Robinson,” Carly said. “Now we’re experiencing this for the third time.” She waved at her son.
Ralph agreed. “It’s good for our city,” he said. “It has what we call la lumbre, the fire.”
The new energy surrounding Spurs has visibly transformed San Antonio, in the form of impressive Wembanyama tributes by local artists. Oscar Alvarado, a tile mosaic artist who traces his family’s roots in San Antonio nearly 300 years, built an 18-foot-tall Wembanyama cutout out of steel and plywood. Colton Valentine created a larger-than-life mural of Wembanyama holding two basketballs outside a bar in the bohemian Southtown, earning himself a visit from Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. And Nik Soupe was perhaps the bravest of them all: he made a mural of Wembanyama in the Spurs shirt almost two months before the draft lottery.
Several fans said Wembanyama’s ability to generate palpable enthusiasm was clearly “not Spurs-like”. Duncan was particularly quiet and rarely did interviews or commercials, much like Kawhi Leonard, who helped Spurs win their last championship in 2014.
But so far, Wembanyama has reveled in the spotlight. He beamed in a video on Instagram as a horde of fans greeted him after he landed in San Antonio on Friday.
“He should expect legions of little old ladies to pray in Catholic churches for Spurs’ victory,” Castro said, “and for his success to be celebrated by people as if he were a member of their family.” That’s the level of excitement and how personally a lot of people take it there.”