Victor Wembanyama is relieved to be out of the public eye as he plans to 'disappear' for an amount of time following the Britney Spears incident which has made headlines over the last few days.
The teenage French phenom made his Summer League debut for the San Antonio Spurs last week, where the unfortunate moment took place.
In a video that instantly went viral, pop superstar Spears looked to have approached Wembanyama - and in the aftermath she claimed she was slapped in the face by one of his security guards.
The 18-year-old did not look to be aware of what had happened, as he continued to walk away from the incident, seemingly minding his own business.
Speaking to reporters after his second Summer League game on Sunday, Wembanyama stated that he plans to take a holiday and be away from the media eye.
On the incident itself, he said: "When I got back to the hotel, I didn’t forget about this, but I thought it was no big deal. And then [I was told] this was Britney Spears. At first, I was like, ‘No, you’re joking!’ But yeah, it turns out it was Britney Spears. I never saw her face."
He added that he wants to take himself away from all the attention for the next few weeks, after a hectic period which included build-up to the NBA Draft, and then a media circus in the weeks that followed for the 19-year-old.
He told reporters that he is now relieved to have put these last six weeks behind him, now looking forward to time away ahead of his rookie season.
He said: "In the past month, I think basketball wasn’t even 50% of my schedule. I can’t stand it. I know it’s a special moment in my life, but I’m glad it’s over … I just wanna hoop."
Although it was originally reported that Spears would be filing a report, it has since emerged that no charges have been filed in the incident.
TMZ stated that Spears was a “fan” of the player going up to him to ask for a photo together. She allegedly “tapped him on his back, right shoulder”, and the security then allegedly “backhanded her.”
Spears fell to the ground and had her glasses knocked off, but she returned to her table with Wembanyama's security apologising to her for the incident.
Wembanyama struggled in his debut for the Spurs on Thursday but bounced back with an impressive showing on Sunday as he scored 27 points with 12 rebounds.
The Spurs have three more games remaining in the Summer League, although it remains to be seen whether he will feature, with pre-season training set to begin in September.
