EXPECTATIONS for Spurs-Knicks NBA Finals 🗣️ Wemby is the 'GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH' - Perk | NBA Today

Hello, San Antonio, we are live from home to Epic Duel. And these NBA Finals, they certainly have all the makings of an epic battle. The San Antonio Spurs looking to add a sixth title led by Victor Wembenyama. They will host game one of these finals against Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks as we get you set for the 2026 NBA Finals. He's underneath, trying to free himself, but can't. The San Antonio Spurs have won their first NBA championship. In sports, history has a habit of repeating itself. After decades apart, their paths collide once more. Welcome to game one. A franchise built on championships seeking to add another chapter to their story. A new era has begun. Fearless young team, unshaken by the pressure. I want to win so bad. It's like my life depends on it. But at the Mecca, another story is being written. For the first time in 27 years, the New York Knicks are going to the NBA Finals. After 53 years of heartbreak, a city starved for glory can finally see the light again. Brunson, three pointer, puts it in! Bedlam Air and Madison Square Garden. One team looking to continue their history, the other, end it. You got to do whatever you can to make sure you're locked in. Separated by time, reunited by fate. Body blow upon body blow between these two teams. This is where legacy meets destiny. Do not let up! NBA Finals on ESPN. Hello, San Antonio. These fans are hoping to see the NBA title, the NBA championship, reside back in their city. They have braved the 90 degree heat to stay with you for the very first time. Welcome to the 2026 NBA Finals. I'm Malika Andrews, alongside Brian Winhurst, Kendrick Perkins, somebody who knows a thing or two about winning in San Antonio, Danny Green. Gentlemen. What you got, one? One here, yeah. OK, all right, yeah. One here, and a couple. No, ain't no should in there. You got one. There you go, my friends. This is NBA Finals Media Day. And so you're going to hear from Karl-Anthony Towns and Jalen Brunson. I just got back from a one on one conversation with Victor Wembenyama. That I cannot wait to share with you. But these fans are so excited. Basketball is a part of the DNA of the city. Oh, it's amazing. It means the world to these fans, the people here. You can see the energy in this heat. It's so hot, bright, but they love it. And it's bringing back so many great moments, some nostalgia. I'm feeling like, you know, back in that time. Yeah, it's a it's a fun time right now. It's exciting. Looking like you're right at home. Perk, don't worry. We have a pile of towels for you because it's 109 degrees out. But we said that we have heard from stars from both sides today. Let's begin with Victor Wembenyama. Falling in love with basketball happened really early on in my life. I mean, I have pictures of myself with a basketball at an age where I can I wasn't even old enough to have memories. Yes, of course, I saw pop right away when we landed. And the emotion was really something I haven't felt in a while. I don't even know since when. And coming back down from this is a challenge and it's not done yet. We we still need to really come back down to earth and realize that we haven't done the hardest yet. The job isn't done at all. It's a great team of experienced guys who are not here by chance, but by relentless effort over the years and very different career paths for all of them. So they're right where they're supposed to be, in my opinion. And all of them are going to be super hungry in their own way. He's always incredibly thoughtful. Brian, what do you expect from him in his first NBA finals? Well, I got to tell you, I think it was remarkable that he talked about how they're not over the emotions of winning the conference finals yet, which I thought was incredibly honest and incredibly something that they have to deal with. And the thing about Victor is he has experienced tough losses before. I know everybody thinks that he's 19 years old when he's 19 years old and that he doesn't have that experience level, but he's had tough defeats before. He lost in the European U-19 Championships when he was playing for Team France. I'm telling you something. He's still not over that loss, which he fouled out of. Obviously, the 2024 Olympics playing at home in Paris. That defeat was something that affected him on a visceral level. So when he talks about playing with emotion, feeling emotion, he has a deep well there that he's drawing from. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the greatest show on earth. And I'm not talking about an elephant standing on one leg. I'm not talking about a tiger jumping through the hoops. I'm talking about Victor Wemba Yama. He is the greatest show on earth. He is the future face of the NBA. And yes, he is the defensive player of the year. Speaking of the defensive player of the year, his defense is going to be tested. The most that has ever been in this postseason going against an all time great offense in the New York Knicks. The New York Knicks is one of the greatest offensive teams that we've seen in playoff history. And so it's going to be exciting to see how Wemba and what type of adjustments they're going to make, how they're going to put him in position to be successful, because we know that the blocks, that's one thing. But him just being in the paint and being around and stopping the guards from penetrating to the basket is another. And we know the style that the Knicks like to play. They can mix it up, right? They could go with Carl Anthony Towns at the point center or they could go back to the big body Brunson play which we saw against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yeah, I mean, if anybody's going to bring it home, it's Wemba, right? Because he is very similar to the one great Tim Duncan. And obviously off the court, different type of brand. He's more outspoken with the media. When it comes on the court, that obsession, that drive, that want to be great. They are very similar in how they approach the game. And Timmy brought a championship here. Wemba definitely could do it. He's more modern day big. Some might call him Timmy 2.0. I wouldn't give him that just yet, but he's just a modern version of Tim Duncan. And he has that drive, that mindset, that mental fortitude to be great and raise his teammates up to empower them to win a championship. You know what I love about this squad? This is not the old version of the San Antonio Spurs. The culture has changed, right? These guys, they're loud about it. They let you know, we don't like you. If you don't have Spurs across your chest, we not fooling with you. And we don't let you know. And it starts with the head of the snake. And I'm not talking about Wemba. I'm talking about that light-skinned guy on the sidelines. Because when he get red, I call him an evil genius. He's also bringing a different tenacity to the game. And you could tell in his film room that he's coming with a level of aggression that the rest of the guys are following. Yeah. And really, it seems like the San Antonio Spurs team, yes, it's led by Victor Wemba and Yama, but they've gotten here by collective. And the question has been whether or not maybe their lack of experience, even though they don't like to look at that, whether or not their lack of experience is at some point going to come into play. I reject it. I reject the lack of experience thing. Which Perk told me months ago, and I give him respect for that. When I watched the Spurs finish off that game in Oklahoma City in the fourth quarter with guys who'd never been in a game seven before hitting shots under pressure. I'm done with it. I don't care about experience anymore. This team can do anything. Now we'll say this, but now we'll say this. Like a lot of teams are happy when they make it to the finals for the first time. The happy teams get their ass sent home. And I look at the NBA finals as if you're looking at Floyd Mayweather. Floyd Mayweather, a lot of times had already won the fight before the fight started, because when you walk into Vegas, you got the press conference, you got the billboards, you got all this, and it's full of excitement. That's the finals. And I've been in this moment in 2012 with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Well, we were happy to be there. But the other side, the Miami Heat had just came off of losing the NBA finals to the Dallas Mavericks, I believe it was, or maybe y'all in 2011. No, it might have been the Mavericks. It was the Mavericks. Yeah, at that time. And we were happy to be there. We got beaten five. Right. A lot of people compare this team to the magic in 1995. Shaq's third year, Victor's third year. Remember what happened there? Shaq openly admitted years later that they beat the Bulls and then they beat the Pacers and they took it easy. Right. Terrible mistake. I don't get that vibe at all. Yeah. And that's not what they're saying either. Let's take a listen to Dylan Harper. Just the magnitude of this moment. Never in like a thousand years, you would have told me that my first year in the NBA, I'd be playing against the Spurs, going to play Madison Square Garden, my rookie year in the finals, I would never like, I think you're crazy. But just the reality and possibility that we have as a team, and I think our biggest goal this year, I think we have a chance to do it in a special place. I mean, we've been making history with like every every game. It's like we see something new. So, I mean, yeah, we got we got four more to go and we got this far. But I mean, we still haven't really done anything yet. We have four guys that are under 23 and I think we have like seven guys that are under 26 and we're in a position to win a championship. And that's because of the way that they've handled this process. All right. So that is what the young guards at the San Antonio Spurs here are saying. But you have been impressed with the resolve, Danny, that you've seen from them through the course of these posts. I mean, they've grown up. People kind of don't trust their experience. They got through the OKC series. They have experience now. Also, that DNA from the organization. But if you look at the clips, these guys were aggressive from the start and they were attacking. As you see here, they get a stop on defense. They're out and running. Vassell, they got a swing swing happening. Castle, he's so good at getting to the basket. They have to respect him, right? So, Chet, when he's guarding him, has to back up. He's shooting. Oh, Isaiah Hardenstein, mind you, has to back up. Give him that space. He's 50 percent on threes versus centers. He knocks it down. Something that he's grown and improved over the season. His next possession is Castle. I mean, Fox, he gets off this pick and roll. They get a screen. He sees the big in a drop. Jay Williams in a drop. He gets downhill. Again, another guard. So good at getting downhill. They have to respect it. He gets a step back, knock down, outscrew. So not contesting is heavy because he'll give up that three from De'Aaron Fox. Next possession. Last possession here is Stephon Castle. They get a little pin down here for Harper. He gets over the top. He gets a screen from Wemby to get downhill. Gets a driving kick. They don't have it right away. He drives and kicks. Grenade happening. And just Dylan Harper being cold blooded. Issa one on one, step back, knock down over SGA, Cash Money Records. That's what he's been doing all season. That's how they all have grown throughout the year. Yeah. And really, when you talk to San Antonio, they they don't feel like they're inexperienced here is a weakness. And you're going to hear a little bit more from Victor Wemba Nyama on that later in the show. But Brian, I think also when you look at the Knicks side of this, the only person who really has experience on this stage, OG on Adobe has technically been here, but he hasn't even played on it. No. And I think that the Knicks advantage isn't so much an experience thing. It's a rest thing at some point in this series. And maybe it happens at the end. Maybe happens at the beginning. The Knicks have played four fewer playoff games in the Spurs. Right. You just got to figure that's going to happen. And this statistic is very fascinating in the history of the playoffs. When a team that swept. Wow. Against a team that has gone seven games. Wow. Team that swept is 20 and four. By the way, it was 19 and four. And then the Knicks did it last series. So now you can throw all kinds of asterisks on there. You can say, well, the Western Conference this year compared to the Eastern Conference is the same thing. But history tells us that that rest difference will make a difference. So the Spurs have to try to make sure that it doesn't become an issue later in the series. Right. It's just a matter of when it could become more. That's what the stats and the history teach us. Well.