LEVALLOIS-PERRET, France—The hottest ticket in French sports these days is for a sleepy gym on the outskirts of Paris, where basketball players duck under doorways and fans use halftime as a collective smoke break.
Supporters come to games just 2,800 at a time, because that’s all the building here can fit. But those who do get inside have all made the trip for the same reason: a 7-foot-3 teenager named Victor Wembanyama. At 19, he’s the brightest NBA prospect since LeBron James, and soon, he’ll be on his way out of France.