San Antonio (AFP) – Victor Wembanyama says the San Antonio Spurs are still coming down off an emotional high from defeating Oklahoma City to reach the NBA Finals on the eve of the championship series. The 7-foot-4 (2.24m) center, in only his third NBA season, has led the Spurs into the best-of-seven finals in his first playoff appearance, dethroning the defending champion Thunder in a dramatic seventh game on Saturday.
“The emotion is something I haven’t felt in a while. I wouldn’t even know since when,” Wembanyama said Tuesday. “Coming back down from the emotion is a challenge and we’re not done yet. We still need to really come back down to Earth and realize we haven’t done the hardest yet. The job really isn’t done at all so we’ve still got about 30-plus hours to re-center.”
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The 22-year-old Frenchman was the first overall pick by San Antonio in the 2023 NBA Draft and is well on his way to becoming the new face of the NBA as Michael Jordan and LeBron James did in their prime. “Wemby” knows there will be worldwide attention when the Spurs and New York Knicks battle for the NBA crown, but it doesn’t add to his desire to capture the title.
“Doesn’t motivate me,” Wembanyama said of the global focus on the matchup. “At the end of the day, only 20,000 people fit into the arena. Doesn’t really make a difference.”
What does make a difference to Wembanyama are the five Spurs championship banners hanging from the arena rafters from 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014. Those bring an emotional connection to him and the current roster from past glories by iconic coach Gregg Popovich, now the Spurs president, and such stars as Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Tony Parker, and Kawhi Leonard.
“We’re really being put in the best settings to (start something new), so it’s not really an effort I have to make because there are all these guys,” Wembanyama said. “It’s like they are carrying us; they are guiding us in the right direction.”
– ‘Super hungry’ Knicks –
Wembanyama also has great respect for a Knicks squad seeking New York’s first NBA title since 1973. “It’s a great team of experienced guys who are not here by chance but by relentless effort over the years and by very different career paths for all of them,” Wembanyama said. “They are right where they are supposed to be, in my opinion, and they are going to be super hungry in their own way.”
Wembanyama is trying to make real his childhood dream, one that goes farther back than he can recall. “Falling in love with basketball happened really early on in my life,” Wembanyama said. “I have pictures of myself with a basketball at an age where I wasn’t old enough to have memories.”
Even the hope for an NBA crown is deep within him. “I don’t remember. Basketball goes back so far for me,” he said. “I guess all kids love trophies and medals.”
Wembanyama was the 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year and this season was a unanimous pick for NBA Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league in blocked shots for a third consecutive campaign. Wembanyama has taken time over the years to focus on such aspects of himself as the mental game and nutrition, but notes that “linking those things directly to the NBA Finals would be a shortcut.”
“Details are the difference makers is what I would say. It’s more important for an individual’s career. Eating the right stuff at the right time to reaching the NBA Finals — there are many steps in between.”
© 2024 AFP
