2025 Haas F1 driver, Esteban Ocon is a massive basketball fan and often drops appearances at the NBA Games in Paris. This year was no different as the #31 driver was in his home country, supporting the biggest NBA stars across the globe.
This year’s edition saw five-time NBA champions, San Antonio Spurs square off against the Indiana Pacers for two regular season games in Paris. Ocon took to his Instagram account to showcase the evening he attended and was visibly in awe of the entire event.
Ocon captioned his post, “That game was craaaazy. Amazing experience, amazing people. Merci @nbaeurope !” The 28-year-old was especially impressed by his fellow countryman, Victor Wembanyama’s shift for the San Antonio Spurs.
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The first round saw the 21-year-old Frenchman bag 30 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and five blocks en route to his team comfortably outclassing the Pacers by 140-110. At the time of writing, Game 2 is underway with the Pacers leading the contest 127-97.
After Game 1, Ocon was also seen chatting with Wembanyama — affectionately known as Wemby. The Frenchman was also accompanied to the event by Judo champion, Teddy Riner.
The 2021 Hungarian GP winner and Riner were the headliners at the 2025 edition of the NBA Games in Paris for the interactive celebrity game – “NBA Paris Jam presented by Revolut”.
The 28-year-old has been a regular attendant of the NBA Games in Paris — an event organized by NBA to increase its global appeal and fan base. However, this time around he was without his usual partners in crime, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc.
The duo of Leclerc and Gasly are often spotted with Ocon at these basketball events. This time around, however, the #16 driver has been called away by Ferrari to Maranello to prepare for the 2025 season. This meant that the Monegasque also missed out on making his annual appearance at the charity football match in Monaco for Fight AIDS.
The reason for Gasly’s absence is still unknown.
