Victor Wembanyama came within three wins of an NBA championship. Months later, the loss still keeps him awake at night.
The San Antonio Spurs superstar admitted their five-game NBA Finals defeat to the New York Knicks continues to haunt him as he prepares for another run at the title.
“I’ve had a few sleepless nights,” Wembanyama said at the Spurs’ media day. “Maybe not sleepless nights, but hard to find sleep sometimes or hard emotions, haunting sometimes.”
Rather than bury the pain of losing on basketball’s biggest stage, the 22-year-old Frenchman said he has chosen to live with it and use it as motivation.
“We don’t want to hide from anything. We’re going to face these emotions,” he said. “We’re very hopeful, very ambitious, and we’re ready.”
The heartbreak came after a breakthrough third NBA season for Wembanyama and the Spurs, who reached the Finals before falling to New York.
The 7-foot-4 center also established himself as one of the league’s biggest stars, averaging career highs of 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 64 regular-season games.
Wembanyama became the youngest player to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year and led the league with 3.08 blocks per game.
San Antonio rewarded him with a multi-year contract extension in July.
But individual honors have not erased what happened in the Finals.
As Wembanyama and the Spurs begin another season, the loss to New York remains fresh. This time, they hope the pain of coming so close can fuel another shot at the championship.
