Victor Wembanyama fever hits Middle East as NBA viewership soars

ABU DHABI: When you open your social media feed, it almost doesn’t make sense. A 7ft 4in player dribbling between defenders, stepping back beyond the arc and sinking threes with the ease of a guard. But this isn’t a video game, it’s Victor Wembanyama — the human highlight reel taking over the NBA.

One fan wrote beneath a viral clip of Wemby handling the ball across the court: “He’s casually hitting highlights every night,” after the video racked up more than a million views in just a few hours.

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And that love isn’t confined to North America or Europe. In the Middle East, basketball fever is spreading fast, and Wembanyama is at the center of it. According to the NBA, League Pass sign-ups in the region are up 37 percent year on year, while views of San Antonio Spurs games across both live and on-demand platforms have increased by the same margin compared with the same period last season. From Abu Dhabi to Riyadh and Doha, fans are staying up late to watch him play, share his highlights, and follow every move of the Spurs big man.

In the US, Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs made their national TV debut this season against the Dallas Mavericks, drawing an average audience of 2.49 million viewers, a 63 percent increase from ESPN’s opening-night game last year. A new kind of superstar.

Dominating the court, not just the highlights

He’s not just producing highlights, he’s winning games. The Spurs have broken their franchise record for the best start to a season, and Wembanyama is the driving force behind it. Through the opening week of the season, he became the first player in NBA history to record more than 100 points and 15 blocks in his first three games, averaging 33.3 points, 13.3