<\/p>\n
Victor Wembanyama sat at the podium with a hood over his head. The pain was streaked on his face. He was asked to put into words what he was feeling.<\/p>\n
Watch every game of the 2026 NBA Finals LIVE with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n It\u2019s the kind of question that\u2019s hard to ask athletes in moments like this.<\/p>\n Wembanyama had led his team to a 29-point lead over the Knicks. He was so confident after sprinting to a 21-point advantage in the first quarter that he taunted Mitchell Robinson, telling him, \u201cI\u2019m in your head.\u201d <\/p>\n The Spurs were about to tie the series at 2-2. The Larry O\u2019Brien Trophy was within their grasp once again.<\/p>\n Then everything fell apart<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Knicks refused to die. They gritted their teeth. They stormed back, completing the largest comeback in NBA Finals history with a 107-106 win.<\/p>\n It was wild. It was stunning. It was jaw-dropping.<\/p>\n After the final buzzer, the cheers in the hallway at Madison Square Garden were so loud that it was hard to hear Spurs coach Mitch Johnson address the media even though he was using a microphone. Taylor Swift, Timothee Chalamet and Ben Stiller were among the people dancing and screaming in the impromptu celebration that resembled Mardi Gras more than a workplace.<\/p>\n As for Wembanyama, he knew what was coming.<\/p>\n The criticism was going to be brutal. There was going to be an avalanche coming from TV screens, airwaves and newsstands. As the future face of the league, everything ultimately falls on him. But nothing could compare to the demons in his own head. <\/p>\n This is the type of thing that can break a player.<\/p>\n Or it can be his villain origin story.<\/p>\n REACTION: NBA great UNLOADS after all-time Finals choke<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n ‘The DUMBEST basketball team in history’ | 00:32<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s going through my mind right now?\u201d Wembanyama asked. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s going to go one of two ways. One of two ways. A bad one and a good one. The bad one would be giving up. The good one would be getting stronger through this, getting more together. I know this is what we\u2019re going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Wembanyama said \u201call the right things\u201d according to Zach Lowe. But the Spurs superstar looked \u201cvisibly shaken\u201d, as the NBA insider put it. <\/p>\n \u201cAs you would expect,\u201d Lowe added on his podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cJust looking at him in the room, he did not look like someone who had a tonne of faith that they would take the way he wants them to take.\u201d<\/p>\n So much went wrong for the Spurs in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n They were outscored 32-16. They were outshot from the field 60% to 21.1%. They were bested from beyond the arc 60% to 20%.<\/p>\n As the Knicks chipped away at the third-largest halftime lead in NBA Finals history (27 points), a comeback seemed impossible. Improbable. But the crowd got louder. The Knicks inched closer. And suddenly, Madison Square Garden had transformed into the embodiment of a nightmare for the Spurs.<\/p>\n Fingers can be pointed in a lot of directions.<\/p>\n How could Wembanyama have missed two free throws with 1:47 left and the Spurs up 104-103? <\/p>\n Jalen Brunson then made a floating jumper with 1:22 remaining to give the Knicks their first lead of the game, 105-104.<\/p>\n Why in the world did De\u2019Aaron Fox attempt a layup instead of dribbling out the clock with the Spurs ahead 106-105 and 13.5 seconds left?<\/p>\n Then came the dagger.<\/p>\n How in the heck did no one box out OG Anunoby following Brunson\u2019s missed 3-point attempt?<\/p>\n Anunoby came flying out of nowhere to make a tip-in with 1.2 seconds remaining, delivering the Spurs a blow to their jugular.<\/p>\n It was brutal.<\/p>\n How do the Spurs recover from this?<\/p>\n Watch every game of the 2026 NBA Finals LIVE with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cHolding each other accountable,\u201d said Wembanyama, who had team highs in points (24), rebounds (13) and blocks (3). <\/p>\n \u201cCommunicating. Not pointing fingers. And after that, we either got it or we don\u2019t. But we\u2019ve proven that we can surpass these difficulties. Even though we haven\u2019t been there before, I\u2019m convinced we\u2019re built that way and we\u2019re going to use the better of this. It\u2019s going to tighten us up.\u201d<\/p>\n Celebs lose their minds for NBA miracle! | 00:38<\/p>\n For the Spurs, there\u2019s a lot of string to spool after the greatest unraveling in NBA Finals history. <\/p>\n Remember that turnover that haunted Wembanyama in the final seconds of Game 2, when he threw the ball off Stephon Castle\u2019s back? Child\u2019s play. What happened in Game 4 is the type of thing that will reverberate for years.<\/p>\n Maybe longer.<\/p>\n The Spurs had outshot the Knicks at halftime 59.6% to 40.5% from the field and 53.8% to 33.3% from beyond the arc. They were soaring. The narrative was about to become, \u201cWill the Spurs be the first team in Finals history to recover after losing their first two games at home?\u201d<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s something else altogether. <\/p>\n This was embarrassing. It was shocking. It was gut-wrenching.<\/p>\n As nearly 20,000 people roared with joy inside Madison Square Garden at one of the most stunning games in sports history that brought the Knicks within one win of their first championship in 53 years, a shocked 7-foot-4 superstar tried to show his resolve.<\/p>\n But this loss was devastating. It was a collapse of epic proportions. An undoing.<\/p>\n It left a wound that\u2019s not going to scar anytime soon.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just hurts,\u201d Wembanyama said. <\/p>\n This article first appeared on The New York Post<\/a><\/i>and was reproduced with permission.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n