With Game 1 of the NBA Finals in the books, played last night in San Antonio after the AmNews went to press, the Knicks and the Spurs — a rematch from 1999 — will be a classic.
Two good teams with depth, talent, and swagger — but the Spurs have the Unicorn.
In the NBA, we have seen greatness come and go, but the truly great ones — the GOATs, and there is never just one — remain embedded in our psyche. They are the one-name greats: Oscar, Clyde, Doc, Magic, Bird, Isaiah, Kobe, Shaq, Tim, LeBron, and Steph. Although he isn’t a one-name goat, also bow your head for William “Bill” Felton Russell, Lord of the (11) Rings.
Two stand out because they changed the game: Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Wilt, the Big Dipper, warranted change with his sheer presence. The NBA widened the lane because of his dominance. He unimaginably played every minute of every game, including overtimes, during the 1961–62 season, load management be damned. He finished his 14-year career averaging 30.1 points and 22.9 rebounds.
For Kareem, who averaged 24 and 11 over his 18-year professional career, the NCAA changed the rules while he was playing for UCLA. The dunk was banned from 1967 to 1976, which became known as the “Lew Alcindor Rule” (Kareem’s former name), sSo the 7’2” phenom developed his unstoppable sky hook, the most indelible singular shot in the history of the sport, which no one has duplicated.
If Wilt and Kareem are truly GOATs, we may be witnessing a young man evolve past the both of them and there are no more rules to change. That would be third-year man-child Victor Nonga Wembanyama-de-Fautereau-Vassel of the Spurs, but you can call him Wemby.
As in, “He’s Wemby, damnit!”
Born in Le Chesnay, France, 24 miles from Paris, Wemby stands 7-foot-4, weighs a svelte 235, and is the opposite of the Knicks’ All Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who at 7 feet sometimes resembles a shooting guard playing center.
Wemby is a center playing shooting guard who handles the ball like a point guard, moving like a gazelle with three-point range. He can cover half the court with two steps. In April, the 22-year-old Wemby captured his first NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and became the first-ever unanimous selection for the honor. He won a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics playing for France, with his team falling to the United States in a memorable gold medal game. A few months earlier, he had been named the NBA Rookie-of-the-Year.
With the Spurs, he has a fine supporting cast. They include 21-year-old Stephon Castle, the 2025 Rookie of the Year; Keldon Johnson, 26, this season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year; De’Aaron Fox, 2023 NBA Clutch Player of the Year, the old man of the group (although he’s just 28); steady sharpshooter Julian Champagnie (24) from St. John’s; and the dangerous budding star, 20-year-old rookie Dylan Harper from Rutgers.
Wemby is the sun around which they all rotate, leading the Spurs to a Western Conference finals victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, dethroning the erstwhile champs 111-103 in Game 7 in their building.
He is that generational player with a skill set we’ve never seen before in a single package. And a one-word name that will stick — Wemby — like all those other one-named GOATs.
