The San Antonio Spurs outlasted the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder in a seven-game gauntlet of a Western Conference Finals, and Victor Wembanyama cried, roared, and proclaimed it “a lifetime chance” to reach his first NBA Finals.
“The day we win it, speaking for myself, it’s going to be an amazing day of a realization of a dream,” Wemby, 22, said on May 30. “It’s hard to put into words. It’s almost like the meaning of my life.”
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That day will have to wait.
The New York Knicks defeated the Spurs in Game 5 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio on Saturday night to win the Finals, ending a 53-year championship drought for the Knicks and sparking a summer of regret for the Spurs.
“I think, compared to anything before, this is the biggest lesson of my life — the biggest learning moment,” Wembanyama said at his postgame press conference. “I can’t tell exactly what the lesson is, but we’re learning from that, for sure. I’m learning more than any other time in my life.”
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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – JUNE 13: Victor Wembanyama #1 of the San Antonio Spurs reacts during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks in Game Five of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center on June 13, 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
“This has been a hell of a year in terms of experience,” Wembanyama said later in his presser. “I don’t think we could have learned more and gained more experience in one playoff run, and in one season, and personally in 18 months. It’s been hard and full of lessons.”
The Spurs collectively lost composure down the stretch of four out of five games against the Knicks. The Spurs held a double-digit lead in each of the five games, and Game 5 was the only game in which the Spurs didn’t lead at some point within the final two minutes.
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But Wembanyama will be haunted by a few plays in particular. In Game 1, he dribbled off his foot with less than a minute left to play. In Game 2, with the game tied at 104 with 12 seconds left, he inexplicably threw the ball off of Stephon Castle’s back. And then came Game 4.
The Spurs led by as many as 29 points and held a 27-point halftime lead in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, and they watched it vanish. As the Knicks chipped away, Wembanyama disappeared. He missed two crucial free throws with fewer than two minutes left, helping the Knicks complete the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history.
If anything, it all proved that Wembanyama is not immune from the same early-career pains most NBA greats suffered in their first Finals trips. The real story starts now. Will he wilt, or continuing blooming into the face of the league?
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