Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs just choked Game 4. The New York Knicks made a 29-point comeback – the largest in NBA Finals history. And now, Wemby is one game away from losing his first Finals appearance. For Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers, that’s a scary reality to live in.
Wemby is the type of player to take everything personally. There’s no doubt that he will take this loss (if the Spurs do end up losing the Finals), learn from it, and use it as fuel. For the Lakers, that means if they want to win a title, they’ll have to get through a version of Wembanyama that nobody has seen yet:
Vengeance Wemby.
Luka Doncic and Lakers will have to deal with a new version of Wemby
All the best players in NBA history use losses as fuel. Because for most, losing at the highest level is just part of the game. Young teams rarely win, and when they do, it’s rare.
Even take the Oklahoma City Thunder last year. They won in their first trip to the NBA Finals, but that same group lost the year before. They didn’t even make the Conference Finals in 2023.
Michael Jordan may have gone 6-0 in the Finals, but it took him a few years to get there. He endured a few playoff flame-outs before getting to the big stage.
Jayson Tatum lost in the Finals before winning a title. LeBron James did the same. Even Kobe Bryant, after three-peating with Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000s, lost in 2008 before winning two straight championships without Big Diesel.
It’s kind of the way of life in the NBA. You don’t usually get to win the first time you make the Finals, especially when you’re as young as Wemby is right now (22 years old).
But now, the rest of the league has to watch out. Because Wemby is the type of player to internalize this loss and make it his mission to get his revenge on the rest of the league.
That’s a problem for the entire Western Conference, especially Doncic and the Lakers, as they will have to find a way to beat out the Spurs if they want a chance at bringing home a title of their own.
Now, not only are the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander-led Thunder in their way, but so are the Spurs, who will be playing with a new ferocity. A bigger chip on their shoulder than ever.
Taking Wemby down may be harder than it has ever been before.
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