SAN ANTONIO — Brayden grew up in Dallas, but his dad is a big Spurs fan who grew up in San Antonio, so he's a big Spurs fan too.
The high school senior doesn't get many chances to head down to San Antonio and catch a game during the school year, so his best option is to brave hostile territory when they come to town to face the Mavericks.
That made Christmas an easy slam dunk for Brayden's mom, who got tickets for Victor Wembanyama's first game in Dallas on December 23. The superstar rookie has been impressive and impactful on both ends while showing durability that many doubted his skinny 7'4" frame could handle in the NBA.
Brayden and his dad made the hour-long drive to the arena early that night to watch their favorite franchise's freakish new cornerstone warm up. It was their first time seeing him in person, and they knew that any time he steps on a court something amazing can happen.
They watched in horror as Wemby stepped on a ball boy's foot, twisted his ankle and limped off the court frustrated. Thankfully, the injury was just a sprain, and the rookie wanted to play, but Gregg Popovich didn't want to take any chances. The star player you have to see to believe stayed on the bench after the freak accident. It was frustrating for him and his team, not to mention all the fans watching on TV and at the arena.
Brayden saw the news on Twitter and posted his experience to share his situation and commiserate with the community.
"Literally heartbreaking," he said. "One of my Christmas gifts was this game and I got these tickets last summer. I was looking forward to seeing Wemby play for months and I get here and it gets ruined. I’m from Dallas and this is a rare opportunity that got ruined. I’m extremely upset."
He didn't tag Wemby or the team, and he didn't start cursing or pointing fingers or asking for stuff. He tells me he wasn't expecting or trying to generate the response that he did, and he stressed that despite the bummer he still had a fun time with his dad.
"We were pretty disappointed but we still enjoyed the game, still grateful to be there, of course it's still the Spurs," Brayden said.
They left a bit early to beat the traffic and started the long drive back as the Mavs finished off a 144-119 blowout. Before they made it home, Brayden's phone buzzed to alert him that he had a new message... from Victor Wembanyama.
"I said, 'dad, you are not going to believe me.'"
He double-checked to make sure it wasn't a scam and looked at the message again.
"Sb just showed me your tweet, I'll make sure to send you some tickets for when we come back February 14," Wembanyama said. "Sorry I couldn't make it tonight."
Wembanyama played in 30 of the team's 34 games, and it bears repeating that he missed this game despite wanting to play after a bizarre ankle sprain during warmups.
"The fact that he went out of his way to do something like that really speaks volumes to the type of person he is," Brayden said. "Us Spurs fans need to really appreciate that about him as well as his talent. He is a genuine good dude."
They didn't have to wait until February, though. Brayden said the team reached out and offered tickets for their game against the Bucks in San Antonio on January 4, and school's still out, so he and his dad made the trip down.
They saw Wemby face off against Giannis Antetokounmpo for the very first time in an instant classic that went down to the wire.
"My throat hurt 'cause I was screaming so loud," said Brayden, who sat with his dad about 15 rows from the court behind one of the baskets.
Through the backboard he watched Wemby lob it off the window to himself for a dunk, turned to his dad and asked, "what just happened?"
He got the wide-angle view of Keldon Johnson rising up on the baseline for a windmill reverse dunk that got the crowd hyped. And with the game on the line, he watched through the backboard once again as Giannis rose up to dunk the Spurs out of the game and Wemby rose up to reject him.
Antetokounmpo finished with 44 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists to lead the Bucks to a win, but Wembanyama made it a proper duel with 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks in a game that was close to the very end.
Wemby was asked after the game if he felt extra motivation going against Giannis, and confirmed that he did. He was asked if he felt extra motivation after missing out on Rookie of the Month or seeing the All-Star voting numbers, and confirmed that he did.
"At the end of the day, I’m going to get what I deserve… Every game is a statement from now on," he said.
When asked whom the statement was directed at his answer was simple.
"Everyone."
The message from this game was also simple.
"On the day I turned 20, I went toe to toe with the Greek Freak and made him say he's never seen anything like me."
The casual fans who caught the game on TNT will talk about it at the water cooler. Everyone who saw it with their own eyeballs will remember being there. And not many of those people will have a cooler story to tell about it than Brayden and his dad.
"Getting to share something like that with the person who got you into it is awesome, and especially getting it straight from the person you're going to see is unbelievable," said Brayden, who wants to study sports management in college and one day work for the Spurs.
Brayden knows how special this whole thing was, and he can't believe it's received national attention. He wants people to know that this story isn't about him at all, it's about the star rookie just a few years older than him going out of his way to right something he didn't wrong for a person he'd never met.
"He's a generational player, but he's also absolutely a generational person."
Wembanyama shows out on his birthday and Vassell scores 34, but Spurs fall to Bucks 125-121
This story is dedicated to my dad, Paul Petrini, who instilled in me a love of sports and went out of his way to make memories with me at the game. One that I fondly looked back on while writing this was the time Derek Jeter was sitting at 2,998 hits, and as we sat in a Bronx deli the sky opened up and washed out the game. The next day he hit 3,000 into the bleachers where we'd get the cheap seats. He'd always take us early so we could see batting practice, and one time he almost broke his hand because Jorge Posada cracked one directly at him as soon as he took off his glove to eat a sandwich. Love you, pop.