As the San Antonio Spurs prepare for Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks, Victor Wembanyama is balancing excitement with restraint.
Speaking Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s opener at Frost Bank Center, the Spurs star repeatedly emphasized that reaching the Finals is not the finish line. After San Antonio eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games to win the Western Conference, Wembanyama said the emotional high of the moment still had not fully settled.
“And the emotion was really something I haven’t felt in a while. I don’t even know since when,” Wembanyama said. “Coming back down from this is a challenge and it’s not done yet.”
The 22-year-old center quickly shifted focus to the work ahead.
“We still need to really come back down to earth and realize that we haven’t done the hardest yet,” Wembanyama said. “The job isn’t done at all.”
The quote captured the tone of his availability as San Antonio enters the Finals against a Knicks team that swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals and finished the regular season 53-29.
Rather than frame the matchup as a surprise run for New York, Wembanyama praised the Knicks’ experience and persistence.
“It’s a great team,” he said. “It’s a great team of experienced guys who are not here by chance, but by relentless effort over the years and very different career paths for all of them.”
Wembanyama added that New York has earned its place on the NBA’s biggest stage.
“So, they’re right where they’re supposed to be in my opinion and all of them are going to be super hungry in their own way,” he said.
The Spurs and Knicks split their regular-season meetings 1-1, including a 134-132 San Antonio victory at home and a 114-89 Knicks win in New York. The Finals matchup also brings together two teams built differently, with San Antonio leaning on emerging talent and New York led by experienced postseason contributors such as Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Wembanyama, who is averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in the playoffs, enters the series as San Antonio’s centerpiece. Still, he downplayed the idea that the worldwide spotlight of the NBA Finals changes anything for him.
Asked about performing in front of a global audience, Wembanyama dismissed the outside noise.
“It doesn’t motivate me,” he said. “At the end of the day, only 20,000 people fit in the arena, so it doesn’t really make a difference.”
He also reflected on the Spurs’ championship culture and the influence of franchise legends around the organization.
“We’re really being put in the best settings to do that,” Wembanyama said when discussing balancing history with a new era. “It’s like they’re carrying us, and they’re guiding us in the right direction.”
