LAS VEGAS — The hype surrounding Victor Wembanyama hype has been overwhelming.

The expectations for the No. 1-overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft have bordered on unfair.

Reality began Friday night, in his NBA Summer League debut with the Spurs at the sold-out Thomas & Mack Center.

All eyes were on Wembanyama, the 7-foot-4 Frenchman who is considered the best prospect since LeBron James.

As wondrous and unique as Wembanyama may be, he is entering the unknown.

Not even James faced pressure this extensive.

The social media hot-take era is ready to anoint or lambaste the skilled big man.

Odds are, Wembanyama will find criticism before praise.

Go take a look at recent phenoms.

They lose upon their arrival in the NBA — because the worst teams are in position to draft them.

The Cavaliers went 35-47 in James’ first season.

The Pelicans were 30-42 in Zion Williamson’s first season.

It takes time to change that.

Wembanyama isn’t joining a ready-made roster with the Spurs.

San Antonio hasn’t won more than 34 games in any of the past four years.

It is young and rebuilding. Wembanyama is unlikely to make the playoffs as a rookie, although that hasn’t changed his mindset.

“I’m gonna [do] everything to win as many games as possible,” he told ESPN before the draft. “I’m trying to win a ring ASAP, so be ready.”

Wembanyama has said all the right things so far, and is doing them.

He has handled the intense media scrutiny well, showing impressive maturity, and his decision to skip the FIBA World Cup later this summer to better prepare himself for his rookie year makes sense.

“He’s got a great disposition, a good combination of intellectual ability and an emotional intelligence at the same time,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said on draft night. “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.”

It began Friday night, in just the second time a summer league game day was sold out in advance.

The first time was for Williamson’s debut in 2019.

Everyone wanted to get eyes on the player experts believe will be the NBA’s next superstar.

But as history shows, it’s not going to happen overnight.

Wembanyama is likely to lose more than he is going to win at the start, despite all the lofty praise about his immensely high potential.

He doesn’t seem to mind the attention.

“I’m trying to be the best. All dimensions in the job of being a basketball player, NBA player,” Wembanyama said recently. “I want to be the best at the media, the press conference stuff. I don’t like to do things halfway, so I’m trying to enjoy it.”

“I don’t let all this stuff get to my head,” he added. “I have such high expectations for myself, I’m immune to all this stuff, I really don’t care.”