NEW YORK — By 11:30 a.m. Saturday, the mass of people cleared the southwest corner of Washington Square Park in downtown Manhattan. So had the 7-foot-3 NBA unicorn. The chess tables remained, empty and soaking wet. The remorse of the late-comers lingered in the air.

The NBA star, who plays for the San Antonio Spurs and goes by the nickname Wemby, took to X in the early hours of Saturday to ask where the best place to play chess in New York City is. By 9:30 a.m., Wemby picked his court: Washington Square Park.

He posed for photos with a couple of dozen people who showed up, braving a morning of cold rain to play chess with one of the NBA’s biggest stars.