Victor Wembanyama dropped 41 points and 24 rebounds in double overtime of his Western Conference Finals debut and the best player alive debate is over — not “heating up,” not “interesting,” over, done, retired, buried, send flowers.
Spurs 122, Thunder 115. Wemby played 49 minutes and posted playoff career highs across the board. Forty-one. Twenty-four. Three blocks. Three assists. In his first Conference Finals game. At 22 years old. I watched this on my couch with Revis and when the final buzzer went I sat there for a second just staring at the screen because I didn’t know what to do with what I had just witnessed.
Per Yahoo Sports and NBA.com, Wemby joined Wilt Chamberlain — WILT CHAMBERLAIN — as the only players in NBA history with 40+ points and 20+ rebounds in a Conference Finals debut. He also became the youngest player ever to record a 40-20 playoff game, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He’s 22 years old and he’s lapping the all-time list.
The clutch play was absurd. End of the first overtime, Wemby pulls up from logo range — logo range — and drains a three to force OT2. Fans were comparing it to Stephen Curry. That’s the correct comparison and it’s also insane.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/2057259805492826416
Here’s what makes all of it hit differently: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received his second consecutive MVP award in a pregame ceremony a few hours before tip. His name was on a banner. There were speeches. Then per ESPN, SGA went out and shot 7-of-23 from the field and posted four turnovers. Twenty-four points, twelve assists, fine game — for a normal person. For the guy who just accepted the MVP trophy on the court before the game, it reads like a vibe check from the basketball gods. SGA said he needed to “be better” after the game, per ESPN, and yeah, man, that’s a fair read on the situation. Wemby didn’t need to say anything like that.
What Wemby did say was pure Wemby. Postgame presser: “Do I feel like it right now? I feel tired… The world is 8 billion people, so it’s 8 billion opinions.” Eight billion opinions and one of them is correct and it’s Stephon Castle’s, who called him “best player in the [expletive] world” on live TV after the game. Castle gets it.
Oh, and this was without De’Aaron Fox, who was out with an ankle sprain per Shams Charania. The Spurs’ second star wasn’t on the floor. Dylan Harper went for 24 points and seven steals — a team playoff record. OKC’s Alex Caruso put up 31 off the bench for the Thunder, second-highest game of his career. The whole OKC team showed up. And Wemby still lapped everyone in the building.
This is what the best player alive looks like. Not debatable. Check our NBA coverage and all our takes — we’ve been saying this for a year.
He’s not even 23 yet. I need to lie down.
