{"id":712510,"date":"2026-06-03T12:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T12:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/712510\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T12:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T12:05:12","slug":"nba-news-2026-victor-wembanyama-face-of-league-claims-finals-preview-san-antonio-spurs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/712510\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA news 2026: Victor Wembanyama face of league claims; Finals preview, San Antonio Spurs"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the NBA<\/a> Finals last year, Victor Wembanyama<\/a> was a world away.<\/p>\n

After injury ended his season when he was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder in February, the Frenchman, who still managed to have the most blocks in the NBA despite finishing the season months early, took it upon himself to endeavour on a soul-searching journey of sorts, visiting a Shaolin Temple in China.<\/p>\n

\"Victor<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama celebrates as the Spurs advance to the NBA Finals.\u00a0NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Photos of the 22-year-old <\/a>with a shaved head and wearing a robe similar to the other monks began widely circulating on social media, with some wondering whether it was a headline grabbing gesture during a memorable Finals series.<\/p>\n

During his two-week stay, Wembanyama<\/a> posted videos of himself training in martial arts with monks, in what he described as an \u201cimportant summer\u201d ahead of his third NBA season.<\/p>\n

While critics labelled the trip a PR stunt in the basketball mad country, almost a year later, Wembanyama\u2019s form says something else.<\/p>\n

The Spurs<\/a> centre is the cornerstone of a young San Antonio team that unexpectedly rocketed into contention this year. <\/p>\n

The French star collected 22 points and seven rebounds and helped San Antonio secure a 111-103 win<\/a> over reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in game seven of the western conference final.<\/p>\n

Most believed they were a year away from realising their potential, yet Wembanyama and co. have defied the odds, creating a conundrum for those covering the league who are hellbent on anointing a face of the NBA.<\/p>\n

Since the league\u2019s inception, American players have always been viewed as the face of the game. Michael Jordan<\/a>. LeBron James<\/a>. Larry Bird and Earvin \u201cMagic\u201d Johnson to name a few.<\/p>\n

And the NBA Finals this year, which will see the Spurs face off against the resurgent New York Knicks<\/a>, could very well be Wembanyama\u2019s coming out party.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly being promoted that way. The marquee for this series \u2014 in San Antonio, in New York, in Paris and countless other points around the globe \u2014 may as well say \u201cWemby vs Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LeBron<\/p>\n

LeBron James is still viewed by some as the face of the NBA.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

The latest version of the NBA\u2019s one-of-a-kind big man \u2014 a title once held by the likes of Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/a> \u2014 will have all eyes on him in this series, giving him his first chance at putting \u2018champion\u2019 on his resume.<\/p>\n

Such is the hype, it\u2019s not a matter of if – but when – and that will inevitably lead to debate about him being the leading player in the competition and what that means for USA basketball<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NBA reporter Brian Windhorst told ESPN, Wembanyama has a unique set of skills at his size and has what it takes to be the \u201cface of the league\u201d.<\/p>\n

But even if the Spurs star is to help his team defeat the Knicks and take home the first NBA title of his career, he must continue to prove himself to win over Americans.<\/p>\n

\"Nikola<\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic is still at the top of his game.\u00a0nna\\liam.oloughlin<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing is, he is not American,\u201d Windhorst said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd so, we have never had a non-American face of the NBA that has this kind of power.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat will be the big test, if he wins, can you be that type of global icon in America when you\u2019re not an American?\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, ESPN\u2019s Stephen A. Smith claimed an American-born player must be viewed as the game\u2019s premier player.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe an international player can be the face of the NBA,\u201d Smith said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know they\u2019re global iconic figures; their popularity extends globally. But the NBA is an American-born sport. And it needs to resonate in America. And if it doesn\u2019t resonate in America, then it\u2019s not gonna matter to America how you resonate beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n

The likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> and Nikola Jokic<\/a> have been dominant for years, although the NBA media landscape never fully embraced the Greek and Serbian stars as the face of the league.<\/p>\n

\"Wembanyama<\/p>\n

Wembanyama sheds a tear after advancing to the Finals.\u00a0NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

But Wembanyama has met no such resistance from those covering the game in a short space of time.<\/p>\n

At 223cm with the skills of a guard and a jump shot, he could have the highest ceiling of any player in NBA history.<\/p>\n

Wembanyama possesses the physical traits and skills that can capture the attention of a wider audience on a tabloid level.<\/p>\n

He is joined by 21-year-old guard Stephon Castle and 25-year-old Devin Vassell, giving San Antonio the foundation of a team that could contend for years.<\/p>\n

The French centre has already emerged as a potentially transformational player – a Defensive Player of the Year capable of blocking shots at one end and pulling up from near midcourt or Euro stepping to the rim at the other.<\/p>\n

The Spurs host the Knicks in game one of the NBA Finals on Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the NBA Finals last year, Victor Wembanyama was a world away. After injury ended his season when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-712510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=712510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/712510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/712511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=712510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=712510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=712510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}