SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Spurs kick off the Victor Wembanyama era by selecting him as the top pick in the NBA draft held on Thursday night.

With his towering 7-foot-5 frame and remarkable 8-foot wingspan, Wembanyama, the French phenom, confidently walked across the stage at the Barclays Center in New York. He shook hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, symbolizing the exciting beginning of his professional basketball journey.

"I can't really describe it," the 19-year-old told reporters following the pick. "One of the best feelings of my life. Probably the best night of my life. I've been dreaming about this for so long. It's a dream come true. It's incredible."                 

The Spurs utilized the full five-minute allotment they had on the clock before formally announcing their pick. For Wembanyama, those five minutes felt like an eternity, as he described it as the longest period of time he has ever experienced.

"This is when I started getting the butterflies, and it's where I started seeing my family get silent," Wembanyama said. "Everyone watching their watch. Then I got called, and I went to the back. I was congratulated by a lot of people there. I saw Adam Silver, shook his hand again, gave him a hug."

Wembanyama is widely regarded as a once-in-a-generation talent, possessing the ability to excel in defense, dominate above the rim, and showcase impressive agility with his fluid movements, including hitting one-legged step-back 3-pointers.

The atmosphere at the AT&T Center in San Antonio was electric as fans erupted in jubilation upon hearing Wembanyama's name announced during the draft, with the momentous occasion broadcasted on the video boards.

"I need to see footage of this," Wembanyama said. "My message to them is I'm going to give 100 percent, make all that's in my power to make this franchise win, to have impact on the franchise and the fan base and the community."

After securing the opportunity to draft Wembanyama through a lottery win on May 16, the elated reaction of Spurs' managing partner Peter J. Holt was evident as he leaped for joy from his seat on stage at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago.

During Thursday night's events, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich acknowledged the exceptional upbringing provided by Wembanyama's parents, which has equipped him with the necessary resilience to handle the immense pressure placed upon him.

"He's got a great disposition, a good combination of intellectual ability and an emotional intelligence at the same time," Popovich said. "He understands what hype is. He understands all the attention he's getting, but he still welcomes it, deals with it. ... So I think he understands that there's a way to handle that responsibility and still let people feel somewhat close to him. So he doesn't need a lot of advice in that area."

According to Popovich, Wembanyama is expected to participate in the summer league for the Spurs, although the extent of his involvement is yet to be determined. The San Antonio team is scheduled to compete in the California Classic in Sacramento on July 3, preceding the start of the Las Vegas league, which involves all NBA teams and begins four days later.

"As I said before, I've only spoken with him on the phone a couple of times, so I got to get a better feel for where his head is at," Popovich said. "Talked to his people who've trained him his whole life. They've been with our people, and we've got to make those decisions once we're all together. But he'll be there at some point."

In October, Wembanyama made a notable impact on the national stage during two exhibition games in Las Vegas. Representing Metropolitans 92, he faced off against the G League Ignite, sharing the spotlight with Ignite guard Scoot Henderson. Wembanyama's performance was outstanding, scoring 37 points, securing 4 rebounds, and blocking 5 shots in the first game, followed by a remarkable 36-point, 11-rebound performance in the second.

Throughout the regular season of the French LNB Pro A League, Wembanyama showcased his skills, averaging impressive statistics of 20.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game. His outstanding performance in these categories earned him recognition as the league's MVP, while also leading Metropolitans 92 to the French league finals.

Spurs general manager Brian Wright revealed that Wembanyama came to the attention of their international scouts when he was just 15 years old. Since then, the team has closely followed his development, like many other NBA teams, and they were thrilled to select him in the draft.

"You start hearing of this young player with tremendous talent, tremendous size, and so we started to see him, some of us maybe when he was 16, 17," Wright said. "He always played up, and so the rumors of him had spread, and obviously as we all go see him, we saw the unique talent that he was.

"But you look over the course of that time period, just how he's grown and developed as a player to now leading his team to the championship of the French league and that's no easy task. That's one of the best leagues in the world, and he did that carrying that team on his shoulder. So his evolution has been fun to watch."

The Spurs have now secured the No. 1 pick in the NBA lottery for the third time, adding Victor Wembanyama to their roster. This achievement aligns with their previous successful picks of David Robinson in 1987 and Tim Duncan in 1997, both legendary big men who enjoyed remarkable careers with the Spurs and are regarded as some of the greatest in NBA history.

Wembanyama now embarks on his professional journey under the guidance of Coach Popovich, following in the footsteps of Robinson and Duncan, who had the privilege of playing their entire NBA careers under his leadership. Popovich, recognized as the winningest coach in NBA history, emphasized that Wembanyama should stay true to himself and not try to emulate the likes of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, or even Duncan, as he will inevitably face high expectations and scrutiny.

"He's Victor, and that's who we want him to be," Popovich said.

On lottery night, Wembanyama told ESPN's Brian Windhorst that he was "trying to win a ring ASAP." After the draft, he tempered what his expectations are.

"Some players have tried to win the championship, win a ring for years and haven't made it. I don't want to be one of those," Wembanyama said. "My goal is going to be to get closer and closer every time to the ring and to learn how to make it."

During Coach Popovich's tenure, the Spurs achieved an impressive feat of making 22 consecutive playoff appearances from 1998 to 2019, matching the record set by the Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers from 1950 to 1971, the longest streak in NBA history.

In recent years, however, the team has faced some challenges, failing to finish with a winning record in the past four seasons. Their records during this period were 32-39, 33-39, 34-48, and 22-60 in the previous season. The struggles of the 2022-23 season, however, resulted in the Spurs having a 14.0% chance of securing the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Wembanyama now joins a young Spurs team that heavily relied on emerging players last season. The top five scorers for the Spurs in terms of total points were all 25 years old or younger, and this doesn't even include Jeremy Sochan, the ninth overall pick from last year, who averaged 11.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in 56 games.