Victor Wembanyama embraces the moment at the Paris Games – with a little local flavor

PARIS — While the streets were treated to freezing weather, Spurs forward Keldon Johnson was busy warming hearts.

During Wednesday’s NBA Cares event, which included basketball practice stations for a group of French children, Johnson took the wide-eyed attendees on a detour, running them and himself up and down the steps of the Accor Arena.

“He’s gone rogue!” a Spurs employee laughed as the kids enjoyed the unmatched enthusiasm of Johnson’s involvement.

As Johnson and the children went back down, the attacker emerged with a young man on his back with a large knee brace and a huge smile on his face.

“He scored a ton of points in my book,” mentioned a Danish media member.

Johnson’s enthusiasm filled the entire arena as his voice often drowned out the music from the PA system. Several kids doing drills with Spurs teammates Blake Wesley and Sandro Mamukelashvili couldn’t help but turn their attention to the constant antics of the 25-year-old Johnson, who was having as much fun as anyone on the floor.

When Johnson put the boy down with the knee brace, he was panting from the many runs up and down the stairs. A member of the Spurs organization yelled, “You overrated it, didn’t you?” To which Johnson tried to answer but gave up due to his shortness of breath and resigned himself to the fact that he had actually done it.

The event put a wonderful cap on San Antonio’s open training and media availability for the Paris Games.

Moments before the NBA Cares event, Victor Wembanyama had attended a press conference where the topic of head coach Gregg Popovich, who suffered a stroke on Nov. 2, came up.

Wembanyama had taken the team to dinner Monday night, mimicking what Popovich usually does on road trips.

“Pop had his schedule here so I know he would have done something like that too,” Wembanyama said. “Doing it on the first day was important for me, as a welcome to my team. I know if I went to any of these guys’ country or city, I would have loved to find out where they’re from, to know them better because they are all good people, it’s a real chance to share those moments together.

The superstar was also asked about the attention he’s getting, and outlined that “you can’t have one without the other,” referring to his dreams of becoming an NBA player and understanding the potentially less appealing responsibilities that come with his high profile.

The 7-foot-5 center, who at this point is almost certainly mislabeled when he is referred to as 7-3, has been under intense media scrutiny with his return to Paris. After the Spurs players left the floor to make way for the Indiana Pacers, Wembanyama still conducted interviews around the arena.

Even if the soon-to-be All-Star had wanted to scout Indiana’s practice, he wouldn’t have had the mental bandwidth. When the last interview was over, he headed for the tunnel, shaking the tiniest body, almost as if resetting himself.

For the Pacers part of the open training, approx. 75% of the media members in attendance in San Antonio, which certainly wasn’t a problem for Indiana’s coaches.

The drop in media interest from the Spurs to the Pacers made sense given the nature of the game and how the Spurs have become France’s team.

One player unaffected by this was forward Obi Toppin, who unwittingly mimicked Johnson’s enthusiasm by bantering and displaying high levels of energy.

The Pacers portion of the early afternoon was over rather quickly – again as expected – which further emphasized the fact that it’s all about the Spurs – and Wembanyama in particular.

That’s fair, of course, but it’s almost a disservice not to note that Indiana has won 14 of 18 games since Dec. 13 and is currently sitting pretty in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

In many ways, Wembanyama’s return to Paris has overshadowed the games themselves.

The Pacers come in red-hot, with the Spurs struggling to find their footing of late, especially from an offensive perspective, while losing six of seven.

There is huge importance for both teams in these matches.

San Antonio will obviously try to get back on track as it heads into the second half of the season, while the Pacers try to keep their momentum going.

Both have the same goal – to win – but different motivations. This should lend itself to two thunderous games, assuming of course that Keldon Johnson has caught his breath.