Victor Wembanyama said Monday that the San Antonio Spurs’ loss to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals stayed with him throughout the offseason, but he has no interest in running from the disappointment.
Instead, Wembanyama plans to use it.
The 22-year-old acknowledged during the Spurs’ media day that there were nights when the end of last season remained difficult to put aside.
“I’ve had a few sleepless nights,” Wembanyama said, later describing the emotions as “haunting sometimes.”
“But there’s just a point where you accept that you have to go through it, and you have to feel all of it. We’re going to face these emotions. We’re in a great spot. We’re very hopeful, very ambitious and ready,” he added.
San Antonio reached the NBA Finals in Wembanyama’s third season before New York ended its run in five games. The Spurs had opportunities to make the series considerably different, surrendering double-digit advantages in each of their four losses.
None was more painful than Game 4, when San Antonio led by 29 points before the Knicks completed the largest comeback in NBA Finals history to win 107-106. New York closed out the series three nights later.
That experience has also changed what constitutes success in San Antonio.
The Spurs weren’t widely expected to play into June last season, but reaching the Finals has raised the bar considerably entering 2026-27.
“The definition of success changed,” Wembanyama said.
San Antonio won the Western Conference last season by beating Oklahoma City in seven games, but Wembanyama made clear that simply getting back to that point won’t satisfy the Spurs.
“We won the West last year. We don’t want to do anything less this year, and we want to be the first seed,” he said.
Wembanyama was at the center of San Antonio’s rapid rise.
He averaged career highs of 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists over 64 regular-season games while leading the NBA with 3.08 blocks per contest. He became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year in league history before averaging 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds and 3.6 blocks against New York in the Finals.
San Antonio rewarded him with a multiyear extension in July.
Wembanyama’s offseason included considerably more than processing the loss.
He brought teammates together in Paris in August for workouts and time away from the court, an experience he called emotional because he was able to host the group in his home country. He later trained with French club Provence Rugby, working on footing, lower-body strength, balance and handling physical contact.
The Spurs also strengthened the roster around him.
Veteran forward Tobias Harris signed a two-year, $31 million contract after helping Detroit earn the Eastern Conference’s top seed last season. Harris said Monday that San Antonio’s championship ambitions made joining the Spurs a “perfect match.”
The Spurs open the regular season Oct. 20 at home against the Thunder, the team they eliminated one round before the Finals last spring.
Wembanyama said the support San Antonio received during that postseason run — including fans waiting for the team at the airport — only strengthened the connection between the young roster and the city.
Now the Spurs begin another season knowing how close they came and how abruptly it ended.
For Wembanyama, there is no better place from which to start.
“I couldn’t imagine better motivation,” he said.
