Without Gregg Popovich, Victor Wembanyama plays role of Spurs dinner host in Paris

PARIS — If Gregg Popovich were here, he would take the San Antonio Spurs to a fancy restaurant.

Maybe to a place like the Michelin star establishment along the Champs-Élysées, L’atelier de Joël Robuchon Etoile, where Éric Bouchenoire, one of the most famous chefs in the world, dazzles patrons with foie gras, lamb chop, shellfish, caviar (of course) and a delectable passion fruit dessert.

And there would be wine, bottles and bottles of wine, bused to tables for as long as the Spurs were in their plush, cushy chairs, and probably for long after they get up and start to move around. The only question would be whether Pop chooses the wine himself or gives way to the sommelier to suggest which French red goes best with the choice meats and fish being served.

Popovich is not with the Spurs this week as part of the NBA Global Games series in Paris, which will feature two Spurs games against the Indiana Pacers. Popovich remains away from the team recovering from a stroke suffered in early November.

So Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs’ French sensation, took the team to dinner Monday night in Pop’s stead.

“We talked about it — Pop had a schedule here, and he would have done something like that too,” Wembanyama said. “Doing that on the first day was important for me to welcome (teammates) and to show them, because I know if I went to any of these guys’ country or city, I would have loved to find out about about where they come from to learn to know them better because they’re they’re all good human beings. So really, it’s a real chance to share these moments together.”

Spurs acting head coach Mitch Johnson was preparing to organize a team dinner like the “break bread” meals Popovich is known for, but Wembanyama asked if he could set up a dinner at L’atelier de Joël Robuchon Etoile for just the players. Wembanyama and one of his primary corporate sponsors, Louis Vuitton, organized the evening, which included a trip to the Vuitton store on the Champs-Élysées.

The menu included lamb chop and quail, shellfish and caviar, and the passion fruit dessert. There was, however, no wine for the table. Wemby just turned 21 on Jan. 4, treats his body as though it’s the La Basilique du Sacré-Cœur and is not a wine connoisseur like his legendary coach.

“I think that’s something Pop may have had us do if he were there,” Spurs guard Tre Jones told The Athletic. “I think that was really the only difference (between this dinner from Wemby and the usual Pop dinners). The food was definitely French, but it was amazing, and then just the hospitality Victor showed, only being 21, obviously he’s very mature beyond his years, but the hospitality and also the appreciation he showed us just for being there with him, he was so thankful for us.

“He showed us a great time — that was definitely one of the best meals I’ve ever had.”

Jones, 25, from Apple Valley, Minn., had never been to Paris before this week — nor had many of his younger teammates. So the names of the dishes, and of the restaurant, may have been hard for Jones (and people in his shoes) to pronounce or remember. The experience, though, he will take with him forever. Paris tends to do that to the people..

Perhaps a scene or two from the dinner may have been a little fuzzy if Popovich were there to do the ordering (Jones said he is just getting into wine but has a lot to learn). It was not lost on Jones while enjoying his time with Wembanyama and company that it was the kind of atmosphere and setting Popovich would have cultivated and thoroughly enjoyed.

Spurs chief executive RC Buford said Tuesday that Popovich was continuing to improve and the team expects that he’ll return, but on Wednesday Buford added that there was no way to know when that might be because of his ongoing recovery. Jones said Popovich has insisted since he’s been gone that “break bread” continue.

In Paris, Wemby, obviously, was eager to oblige.

“That’s definitely something that Pop has made sure we continue to do as we’re in these cities and we’re on these long road trips and things like that,” Jones said. “He makes sure that we still have team dinner set up at the restaurants that he loved to go to or would want to be going to if he was on the road with us. And so he’s making sure that we’re continuing that tradition and making sure that we’re still, no matter if we win or lose or what it is, that we’re still going to the restaurants together and enjoying those team dinners.

“It’s part of the Spurs culture, and it’s something that we’re just going to have to continue on no matter how long he’s away from us.”

The Spurs have ties to France that date to at least 2000, when Buford first began scouting Tony Parker, the future Hall of Famer San Antonio made the 28th pick of the first round in 2001. But make no mistake, San Antonio was included in the NBA’s Global Games series in Paris this year, and the week was extended to include two regular-season games for the first time, because of the franchise’s current superstar.

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.

“I think that was really cool, the dinner that we had with just the guys — he just wants us to be comfortable,” said Chris Paul, the Spurs’ elder statesman at age 39 in his 20th season. “We were riding here to practice and Vic was just talking about how beautiful it was. He’s just wise beyond his years. Like he’s very smart. He knows the history of everything. We were talking about when the Louvre was built and why it was built. And he’s talking about all these different things, and probably because I’m older I appreciate it.”

Upon arriving in Paris on Monday, the Spurs, at Wembanyama’s request, practiced at Nanterre 92’s gym, where he first turned pro in France at age 15. On Tuesday, teammates, Johnson, Buford and general manager Brian Wright joined Wembanyama in unveiling two new outdoor basketball courts just four minutes from the house he grew up in and where his parents still live. Wembanyama said he used to go sled riding on the property where the courts were built.

The project, the idea of which came from Wembanyama, was funded mostly by the Spurs’ charitable foundation and was pulled together over the last several months.

“He said to me when we were taking pictures (Tuesday), I never dreamed that I would have my family, my friends and my teammates all together,” Buford said. “He is doing a great job of welcoming our program to his home.”

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(Top photo: Thomas Samson / AFP via Getty Images)