Back then, the now-NBA champion and Phoenix Sun was just a freshman at Texas with the world behind him.
Aug 5, 2024: Austin, Texas, USA: A Kevin Durant mural painted inside Moody Center depicts the NBA star in Burnt Orange threads dunking a basketball. / Matt Guzman-San Antonio Spurs On SI All things considered, Wembanyama has proven his eagerness to improve upon his own game — even when he’s already scored 38 points against the same player he grew up adoring.
“Paying respect to a legend is going to be an important piece of this ,” James explained. “but we’re also making sure that the building feels like a home environment.” Last year’s intentionally helped propel the Spurs forward in their march toward expansion into the Austin market, which was one of James’ big goals.
“We're fortunate,” James said. “In a period of our schedule where we're normally on the road, the fact that we get to play in our backyard in Austin is really meaningful to us.” “The first thing we want to do in any community that we're in is show value and add value,” he said. “Fans may not have the means to get to a game, so for them to be able to find that community … is hugely important.”Through two years of the "I-35 Series," that approach seems to have worked. Not only are the Spurs beginning to see more jerseys in Austin — and not just around the time of the games — but they're seeing a tighter-knit community.
Between holding true to San Antonio and embracing the "weird" culture of Austin, the Spurs have a long way to go in their market expansion, but they're taking it as it comes.This year, Wembanyama's long-awaited homecoming in Paris serves as the only other non-traditional spectacle on the Spurs' schedule, and with how he played over the summer — it's fitting. For Durant, his homecoming, of sorts, adds allure to the Moody Center games and for the Spurs.