SAN ANTONIO — It’s shocking how quickly this moment came.
We knew it was brewing when 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama became the most highly touted prospect since LeBron James.
We knew it was just a matter of time when we witnessed his alien-like abilities to patrol the paint as though he were playing on a toy model of a court.
We knew how badly he wanted it when tears welled in his eyes after milestone wins.
It took Michael Jordan seven seasons to lead his Bulls to their first NBA Finals appearance. It took James and Kobe Bryant four years. Wembanyama has already sprinted past them, leading his team to the Finals in his third season in the league.
So how did his first appearance on a stage he’s expected to soon own go?
Not great.
Wembanyama had 26 points, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots and six turnovers in the Spurs’ 105-95 loss to the Knicks.
He slept-walked through much of the game offensively, finishing with just six made field goals, half as many as Jalen Brunson’s 12 made shots. He missed seven of his nine 3-point attempts. He shot 28.5 percent from the field.
“I’m going to figure it out,” Wembanyama said. “I was bad tonight. It’s not more complicated than that.”
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Wembanyama seemed to settle into his game a bit, scoring half of his field goals (three) and grabbing seven of his 12 rebounds. But with the Spurs trailing 99-95 with 1:11 left, he allowed Josh Hart to swipe the ball from him and then went on to miss a 3-pointer with 32.1 seconds left.
The player who has been entirely unafraid to claim the throne held by James for two decades as the face of the league seemed to slink into his shell for much of the game. He just didn’t quite meet the moment. He didn’t dominate.
It was uncharacteristic. It was surprising. It was a stark reminder that he’s just 22.
It’s obvious Wembanyama is going to blame himself for this loss. The Spurs led by as many as 13 points midway through the third quarter before the Knicks erased their advantage heading into the fourth, tying the score at 76-76.
Wembanyama was still good. He made an impact defensively. He scored the second-most points of any player on the court behind Brunson’s 30 points.
But he didn’t play like him.
The Knicks scored 50 points in the paint. Wembanyama didn’t protect the area he normally owns. He didn’t make himself the daunting threat on both ends of the court that we’ve become accustomed to watching. He scored nearly half of his points (12) from the free-throw line.
“We got to get him moving in space and toward the rim, whether that’s on rolls or running in transition,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “But we need the pressure on the rim and the force in the paint.”
Before Game 1, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said he never wanted to place any expectations on Wembanyama, whose highlights took over the internet before he even stepped foot on an NBA court.
But the truth is, no one can stop this train.
Not even Wembanyama.
Wembanyama isn’t next. He’s now. He’s the present. He’s the future.
He gave a city whose life force is winning basketball a life-saving transfusion. He lifted one of the league’s smallest-market teams into the spotlight against one of the Goliaths of the NBA. He won Defensive Player of the Year and came in third in MVP voting.
He sent the reigning champion Thunder home in the Western Conference finals. He outplayed two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He stormed onto the scene far earlier than anyone expected.
But with all eyes on him in Game 1, he faltered.
Maybe it was jitters. Maybe it was exhaustion from being days removed from a grueling seven-game series against the Thunder, while the Knicks had more than a week to rest after sweeping the Eastern Conference finals against the Cavaliers.
Whatever it was, it’s not going to be enough against the Knicks, who are hungrily seizing the moment in their first Finals appearance in 27 years.
No one knows that more than Wembanyama, who wants nothing more than to live up to the sky-high expectations that he has already begun shattering.
The city is behind him. Most businesses have Spurs signs on their windows. Pedestrians on the street shout “Go Spurs” as they walk past one another. Legendary Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was in the stands for Game 1, as were many other Spurs legends, including Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker.
But more than that, the world was watching Wembanyama.
And even more importantly than that, he was judging himself more harshly than anyone else could.
And he wasn’t pleased.
“When we play bad, when I play bad, is when we shoot ourselves in the foot,” he said. “This is why I’m not worried. We’re going to be so much better. I’m going to be so much better.”
