Victor Wembanyama lands on GOAT trajectory with 1st NBA Title, Kevin Durant's legacy will be re-evaluated w/ Finals win 👀 First Things First
Nick Wright unveils who has the most to gain and lose in the NBA playoffs, featuring Victor Wembanyama and Kevin Durant.
The San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder are less than 24 hours removed from an instant classic in Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals matchup, with the Spurs stealing home court advantage thanks to a 122-115 double-overtime win in OKC.
A big reason for San Antonio's win (both literally and figuratively) was their star big man Victor Wembanyama, whose 41-point, 24-rebound performance added to his already legendary status.
Many on the internet are calling this one of the greatest playoff games of all time, and although that may be a bit of a stretch and could be a classic case of being prisoners of the moment, there is no doubt Game 1 of this series lived up to the lofty expectations people placed on it, and Wemby had a huge hand in that.
Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs big Victor Wembanyama at Frost Bank Center in Texas. (Scott Wachter/Imagn Images)
The fuel for his fiery performance, however, came from an interesting source, as Wembanyama revealed in his postgame interview that Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander taking home his second straight MVP award stuck in his craw coming into this game.
SPURS SNAP THUNDER'S PLAYOFF WIN STREAK BEHIND VICTORY WEMBANYAMA'S INCREDIBLE GAME 1 PERFORMANCE
"Did any part of tonight feel personal?" a reporter asked him at the podium.
"Yeah, for sure." Wembanyama responded, with next to no emotion in his voice.
That is a cold-blooded killer if I've ever seen one.
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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives to the basket against Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs during the first quarter of Game One in the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)
This man just got done dropping 41 points and 24 rebounds, as well as hitting a couple of clutch baskets in the waning minutes of both regulation and overtime, and he is STEAMING because he felt like SGA robbed him of an MVP.
I tried to tell you all that Wemby was already on a GOAT trajectory, but that was Jordan-esque.
We all remember the "I took that personally" memes from the Michael Jordan documentary "The Last Dance."
When Wemby has his own documentary 30 years from now, you can expect his first MVP award being snatched from him to generate a ton of memes in its own right (if people are still making memes by then).
I will be interested to see how Wemby follows up his performance from Monday night's game.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs dunks against Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter of Game One in the NBA Western Conference Finals at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 18, 2026. (Joshua Gateley/Getty Images)
41 and 24 will be hard to top on its own, but will he be able to replicate the added motivation from the MVP "snub" for a second night, or even a whole series?
If he is the player I think he is, I don't think that will be a problem.
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Guys used to sneeze the wrong way and Jordan would drop 50 on them. If Wemby has that GOAT in him, he could do much of the same, and this could be a short, painful series for the team from the Sooner State.
Regardless, the Western Conference Finals will be appointment television from here on out, so get your popcorn ready for Wednesday night.
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