Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama reveals the Gregg Popovich lesson he’ll never forget

Victor Wembanyama arrived at NBA Finals media day on Tuesday still riding the emotional high of San Antonio's Game 7 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the moment he described most vividly had nothing to do with the final buzzer. It was the reunion with Gregg Popovich waiting for him when the Spurs landed. "The emotion was really something I haven't felt in a while. I don't even know since when," Wembanyama told reporters at media day. Game 1 against the New York Knicks tips off Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.Popovich, 77, has guided this Spurs playoff run from the front office after transitioning to his full-time role as president of basketball operations in May 2025. He suffered a stroke in November 2024 and stepped back from head coaching duties, but his fingerprints have been on every series. Victor Wembanyama was direct about how much Gregg Popovich's involvement has meant. "He's talked to us through every game of every series and he's been our guiding force through losses and wins," he said in an interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews. On the floor, Wembanyama has been everything San Antonio needed him to be. He enters the Finals averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game across 17 playoff appearances while shooting 51.0 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from three. He won the Defensive Player of the Year award this season, and those numbers bear it out. He has been the engine of this run in every meaningful sense.Still, Wembanyama was careful not to let the Western Conference Finals win inflate the room's confidence ahead of what might be an even harder series. When asked about regrouping after Game 7, he was blunt about where the Spurs stand mentally."Coming back down from this is a challenge. It's not done yet. We still need to really come back down to earth and realize we haven't done the hardest yet. The job isn't done at all. So we still got about, I don't know, what time is it, like 30-plus hours to recenter."The Knicks present a legitimate test. New York hasn't lost in well over a month, sweeping both the second round and Eastern Conference Finals. Wembanyama offered nothing but genuine respect for what Jalen Brunson and the Knicks have built."It's a great team of experienced guys, who are not here by chance, but by relentless effort over the years… They're right where they're supposed to be, in my opinion, and they're all going to be super-hungry."This is a Knicks team that last reached the Finals in 1999 against these same Spurs, a fact that adds a layer of history neither franchise is ignoring. For San Antonio, the path to a sixth championship runs directly through a New York team that has been arguably the best in the league for the better part of two months.