Wembanyama: Spurs Focused on Knicks in NBA Cup Final

The Cup without the bubbles. Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio face the New York Knicks in Las Vegas this Tuesday in the NBA Cup final, without making it a disproportionate objective. The French prodigy of Spurs, who does not yet know if he will be a substitute like Saturday for his return to competition, expects in the event of success a “sober celebration“, he explained at a press conference on Monday, juggling between English and French.

What kind of milestone would a victory in the NBA Cup Finals represent?

Victor Wembanyama: This final is not a super important step, but just important. This is a high-stakes match that both teams really want to win. This shows that we are preparing to take this next step during the play-offs (which he could discover, editor’s note). As competitors, we want to win every match, it’s as simple as that.

If you win, what will your celebration be?

V. W. : If we win, I will instead have a sober celebration, like the Bucks last year. It’s only the middle of the season, we have to stay humble. As we would not celebrate a series of play-offs won, we will not pop the champagne tomorrow evening (during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, mainland France time, editor’s note) in the event of a victory.

You recently spoke about the “ethical” basketball that you want to play. What do you mean by that?

V. W. : It’s a bit abstract. But we see in modern basketball a lot of games where all five players are not involved, the danger does not come from everywhere. This is not our case. We don’t do a lot of insulation, for example. All five players on the pitch are a constant threat. It’s a basketball that can sometimes be described as “old school”. This is my vision of things.

How do you balance your desire for individual awards like MVP?

V. W. : I don’t find it to be something very complicated to do because in my vision of things, collective performances suffer from too much individual focus. For me, the best player in the world helps his team win above all.

You had a lot of trouble in the semi-final against OKC. Should we keep a certain filter on the court?

V. W. : “Trash talk” can be useful for two things: disrupting the opponent and motivating your team. You shouldn’t control this kind of thing too much, you shouldn’t have a filter. It’s part of the game, as long as it remains relatively correct and natural. The line between what is ethical and what is not is quite difficult to draw on a parquet floor (smile).

What do you think of your budding rivalry with the Thunder, who you beat on Saturday?

V. W. : We’re not there yet. But the fact that people think about it? This is a good sign, because we are not yet the No. 2 in the West. I don’t think anyone in the NBA can claim a rivalry with them, they are above the rest. But if we reach their level in the future, it would be great to have this rivalry. That would mean that we are in a position to win the title, I like that.

Comments collected at a press conference.