“Pop and the Spurs definitely got the deepest tree in the league — everybody branches off from here and ends up better,” Paul said during Tuesday’s press conference. Credit: Kiko Martinez

San Antonio sports fans got a glimpse of what this season of Spurs basketball might look like thanks to Wednesday’s 107-97 home-game win over the Orlando Magic.

Rookie Stephon Castle proved his worth in the preseason game, scoring 17 points, getting four assists and grabbing two rebounds in 22 minutes of play.

However, the highlight of the game — at least according to fans of the Silver and Black on social media — was veteran Chris Paul’s lob pass to French phenom Victor Wembanyama.

The alley-oop play came with less than a minute left in the first quarter and got a boisterous reaction from the crowd. Fans tweeted that they were hopeful the slick maneuver was a sign of more to come.

“Can’t wait to see more of this from Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul,” Bexar County Social Apparel wrote on X, the platform formerly called Twitter.

“The NBA better [get] used to Chris Paul throwing up beautiful lobs to Wembanyama,” chimed in San Antonio Spectrum News reporter Jose Arredondo.

Meanwhile, the Spurs’ official X account kept things simple: “first of many.”

Paul finished the game with five points and three assists, while Wembanyama got 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 23 minutes of play.

Following the game, Wemby expressed his excitement about working with an experienced point guard like Paul.

“Felt very natural. Felt like it was the good play,” Wembanyama said of the lob pass. “And he’s making a lot of good plays.”

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich also complemented Paul’s leadership on the court and in the locker room.

“He’s so wise, and he’s got so much experience,” Pop said at a post-game presser. “Sometimes, I get mesmerized just listening to him say things to players. ‘I should have thought of that,’ that kind of thing. He mentors them well, and he does it the right way.”

The Spurs will take on the Utah Jazz on Saturday in a pre-season matchup at the Frost Bank Center. Tickets start at $10.

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This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 15, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...