{"id":679286,"date":"2026-06-02T06:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/679286\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:05:08","slug":"wemby-vs-the-knicks-its-fitting-that-a-marquee-matchup-awaits-in-the-nba-finals-the-press-democrat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/679286\/","title":{"rendered":"Wemby vs. the Knicks: It\u2019s fitting that a marquee matchup awaits in the NBA Finals \u2013 The Press Democrat"},"content":{"rendered":"

By TIM REYNOLDS<\/p>\n

Associated Press<\/p>\n

SAN ANTONIO \u2014 The marquee outside of Madison Square Garden in December 1949 once promoted the following event, which was happening a couple of days later: \u201cGeo Mikan vs Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not \u201cMinneapolis Lakers vs. Knicks.\u201d Just George Mikan. The NBA\u2019s first one-of-a-kind big man.<\/p>\n

It feels like history repeating itself now. The NBA Finals start Wednesday, with the San Antonio Spurs facing the Knicks for the title. And 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

Victor Wembanyama keeps stepping onto bigger and bigger stages. The latest version of the NBA\u2019s one-of-a-kind big man \u2014 a title once held by the likes of Mikan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O\u2019Neal \u2014 will have all eyes on him in this series, and probably for every game he plays for the rest of his life. He\u2019s not \u201con the way\u201d to superstardom. He\u2019s there. And this series is giving him his first chance at putting champion on his resume.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the best basketball on the planet that\u2019s being played right now,\u201d Wembanyama said after San Antonio won Game 7 at Oklahoma City<\/a> to capture the Western Conference title. \u201cAnd the crazy thing is \u2026 I want to do that 15, 20 more times. Let\u2019s hope it doesn\u2019t become an addiction. Maybe it is already.\u201d<\/p>\n

It may as well be an addiction. San Antonio is clearly addicted to him.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no Major League Baseball in San Antonio, no NHL team, no NFL team. As far as big-time pro sports go, it\u2019s the Spurs and nothing else. And those who drive five minutes in any direction in this city will see the proof.<\/p>\n

School\u2019s out in San Antonio. It\u2019s summer. The city\u2019s public library was buzzing Monday, and a few kids just happened to be noticing a new display not far from the front desk. \u201cRead Like Wemby,\u201d it said, and it featured five books that Wembanyama has been known to read in the past. An Instagram account \u2014 wembybooks<\/a> \u2014 starting posting images of him with books, local media in San Antonio caught on and the library came up with an idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure people have access to those and people can read them,\u201d said Scott Williams, the marketing manager for the San Antonio Public Library. \u201cAnd so, we thought, \u2018Let\u2019s do a display and let\u2019s do a book list and make sure that people can easily find what Wemby\u2019s reading so that they can read it too.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The results?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interest has been huge,\u201d Williams said. \u201cUltimately, we\u2019re looking at two things. We want people to pay attention to the library, we want people to come here and notice us, and we want people checking out these books and reading. It\u2019s been a success on both fronts.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, Wemby gets people reading.<\/p>\n

He also gets people to visit seafood restaurants \u2014 even when they\u2019re closed.<\/p>\n

Rudy\u2019s Seafood isn\u2019t open on Monday. In a 15-minute span Monday afternoon, four cars showed up. They weren\u2019t there for lunch. They were there to see the Spurs murals \u2014 current players and coaches are featured, alongside a freshly re-painted Gregg Popovich, a newly added George Gervin and Manu Ginobili, among others.<\/p>\n

Mark and Christina Lerma have family in San Antonio, but they live in Nebraska. They\u2019re not going to the NBA Finals \u2014 ticket prices are way too high \u2014 but they headed to Rudy\u2019s to pay homage to their favorite team. Mark was wearing a newly acquired Spurs NBA Finals hat and Wembanyama jersey; Christina was dressed all in black and showed off video of a Spurs dress she was wearing on Sunday.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve loved the Spurs forever. And Wembanyama, as one might guess, has quickly acquired a special place in their fandom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s dominant,\u201d Mark Lerma said. \u201cHe changes the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

They proudly pointed out that Wembanyama has been to the restaurant to see the tribute to the Spurs, which has been up for years and gets updated as needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people stop and do selfies,\u201d said Roland Ramirez, who owns the restaurant. \u201cThey\u2019re doing graduation pictures with the backdrop. It\u2019s pretty nice for the community. You know, the Spurs are pretty big right now here in San Antonio.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has met Wembanyama in the past and was blown away by how he carries himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first vibe I got off of him was he was just very humble,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cHe talked to my wife \u2026 he was very humble with everybody. You could see all the emotion he had when he won the Western Conference finals and the crying, he\u2019s just a very emotional guy, very humble, very, very nice guy. That\u2019s what people are really feeding off. He\u2019s humble, but he\u2019s hungry for a championship. And when he gets on the floor, he\u2019s a whole different monster.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s different. Just like Mikan was 77 years ago. Wemby vs. the Knicks. A marquee matchup awaits.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/nba<\/a><\/p>\n

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