"It's very possible that he'll be the face of basketball. Not just NBA basketball, but world basketball," said Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.

The story, as Buford tells it, goes like this: Claudio Crippa, an international scout for the Spurs, proposed going to see a youth game before checking out Doumbouya. Buford saw Wembanyama play for the first time that day. And the seeds for the Spurs' new master plan were immediately planted.

Wembanyama is a special talent, and before the whole world knew who he was, he was a kid from Le Chesnay in the Paris region. That is where he grew to love the game of basketball. As he and his team get ready to play a two-game series in his home country against the Indiana Pacers, he was honored with a special basketball court in his hometown.