For the return of the NBA to Paris, three years later, Chicago, as expected, clearly took the upper hand (126-108) over the Detroit of Frenchman Killian Hayes in an AccorArena filled with basketball fans but also many celebrities, who have taken full eyes too. That’s good: the capital should very quickly welcome a new Paris NBA Game.
Like three years earlier, between Charlotte and Milwaukee for the first regular season game in history relocated to the French capital, in 2020, the score did not matter during this “NBA Paris Game 2023”. But as the result was anything but anecdotal nevertheless (Paris now hosts official matches and not pre-season, as was still the case a few years ago), know that Chicago, the favorite of this match between the 10th and the last of the Eastern Conference, clearly outclassed Detroit (126-108), as expected. Both the Bulls and the Pistons will now return to the United States and continue the NBA season there. Paris, for its part, went to bed again with stars in its eyes and the pleasure of having crunched the space of an evening in the prestigious cake of the biggest basketball league in the world. A rare privilege that France can now boast of, particularly appreciated by Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA. On the sidelines of this “NBA Paris Game 2023”, Thursday evening on the floor of the AccorArena, Tony Parker, who came from the Rhône with his family, thus expressed his optimism about a return of the great North American barnum the next year for a new regular season appointment. Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra went even further by giving an appointment next January for the third edition of the NBA Paris Game.
The NBA could do it again next year…
“It’s not every day that you can have an NBA game in Paris, it reminds me of when I came to see Michael Jordan at the McDonald Open (…) The French market has always been very important for the NBA “, had meanwhile recalled Parker, four-time NBA champion with San Antonio, on beIN Sports, before returning, just before kick-off, this time alongside two of the expected heroes of the evening, Montenegrin Nikola Vucevic (Chicago) and his perfect French (“Bonsoir Paris, thank you for coming so many”) and the regional of the stage (he was born in Florida but is from Paris) and leader of the Pistons Killian Hayes, ovation at home. “I am very happy to be here with my team, I hope everyone is going to have a good evening”, thanked the former player of Cholet, encouraged in passing by “TP”: “Killian, we have to ensure tonight” Hayes, yet very fit at the start of the year, could have done better (4 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists in 31 minutes). He and his teammates, although clearly dominated by the Bulls, nevertheless entertained, in the same way as their opponents, the many spectators present, who were amazed, in particular on two alley-oops of great beauty. Among the many French NBA fans present, VIPs who were much less so, but would not have missed this American show for anything in the world.
When Magic Johnson meets Wembanyama…
Our F1 champions Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Monegasque Charles Leclerc were among the celebrities present on the courtside (at the edge of the floor). Cyril Gane was there too, as was actor and humorist Thomas Ngijol. The Blues and Real Madrid footballer Aurélien Tchouameni was also present. But he, on the other hand, is one of the fans who get up at night to watch the games, and not just when the play-offs have started. Victor Wembanyama, who came as a neighbor, shook hands with Adam Silver who will officially welcome him among his stars from the next draft. The legendary Magic Johnson had also announced that he wanted to greet the new nugget of French basketball. He did it. Because like the former star of the Bulls Ben Wallace, he had made the trip to Bercy too, where he was entitled to his ovation and his passage on the big screen of the room. Joakim Noah, who lived his best hours in the NBA in Chicago, did not escape him either. No more than the singer Pharrell Williams or another footballer, the Italian Marco Verratti (PSG), who also played at home on Thursday during this evening than Killian Hayes, for the first time on the bill in his country since his arrival in the NBA, is not about to be forgotten. “It’s weird to be there in the middle of the season, I usually come here during the summer. My friends and family were there. It’s incredible » Especially since it could become a habit for the Parisian public. And that, too, is quite incredible. One thing is certain: Paris is already asking for more.
