Victor Wembanyama has already pushed the San Antonio Spurs into historic company, and their run to the NBA Finals has drawn immediate comparisons to another giant who once changed the league. The parallel is hard to miss: a young No. 1 pick, a roster with little playoff mileage, and a conference finals win that signaled something bigger might be starting.
The Spurs’ rise does not guarantee a dynasty, but it does place them in rare territory. They are now the second-youngest team ever to reach the Finals, behind only the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers, and they did it with a core built around Wembanyama and other recent top draft picks.
A new era with echoes of Shaq
The comparison most often raised is Shaquille O’Neal, who led the Orlando Magic to the Finals in 1995 during just his third season. Like Wembanyama, O’Neal was a towering force who took a young team to the edge of the championship stage and made the NBA look different.
One veteran head coach summed up the challenge by saying of Wembanyama, “He’s Shaq,” adding that he creates the same kind of problem for opponents because nobody knows how to stop him. The difference is that Wembanyama brings a modern skill set, including perimeter shooting and free-throw touch that O’Neal did not have.
Wembanyama’s numbers support the hype. He averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 blocks while shooting 51% and appearing in 64 games, finishing third in MVP voting.
Why this Spurs team feels different
San Antonio has not only leaned on Wembanyama. The organization has also hit on its draft picks around him, with Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper cited as key pieces of the long-term foundation.
A Western Conference scout praised the front office’s work by saying the Spurs “have crushed the draft,” even while acknowledging the luck that helped put them in position. That kind of young talent matters because the Spurs are now carrying the pressure that comes with being the league’s newest possible power.
The team’s Finals path also came with a major statement win in the conference finals, where Wembanyama embraced Castle, Carter Bryant and Keldon Johnson after San Antonio beat the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder and two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The celebration was quiet in the arena, but the implications were loud across the league.
The shadow of Orlando’s 1995 run
The Magic’s 1995 Finals appearance is still remembered as the start of the Shaq era, even if that era did not unfold exactly as expected. Orlando entered that series as a young, rising group, but Houston swept the Magic and Hakeem Olajuwon outplayed O’Neal.
That team had its own warning signs, and O’Neal later said he and his teammates partied too much before the Finals. Wembanyama appears built differently. In a 2024 interview with The Ringer, he said, “I feel like I’m immune to the distractions like partying, alcohol, drugs. Why would I ever do that?”
His habits underline that point. He avoids alcohol, uses only plant-based sports drinks, and has made body maintenance part of his identity as a player. Those details help explain why some evaluators see him as a more modern version of a dominant big man.
The numbers show how unusual he is
O’Neal’s 1994-95 season was overwhelming in its own way. He averaged 29.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, shot 58% and finished second in MVP voting.
But the statistical contrast between the two players also shows how much the game has changed. O’Neal missed 511 free throws in the regular season and playoffs combined and did not make a three-pointer, while Wembanyama has missed 78 free throws, shot 84% and hit 152 threes so far across the regular season and playoffs.
Availability also separates them early in their careers. O’Neal missed only four games in his first three seasons, while Wembanyama has already missed 65, making health a central factor in how far this Spurs era can go.
The Finals bring pressure, not just promise
San Antonio’s opponent, the New York Knicks, enters the Finals as a dangerous underdog with a different kind of urgency. The Knicks have not won in more than 50 years, have not lost in more than 40 days, and have dominated their path through the East by an average margin of 23 points.
Karl-Anthony Towns acknowledged the scale of the moment and the player across from them, saying Wembanyama is “a special talent” and that the Finals represent the “culmination” of a basketball life’s work. That respect reflects what is at stake for both teams, but especially for the Spurs.
The franchise is also positioned for the next step financially, with a five-year extension worth more than $300 million expected this summer and widely seen as a deal Wembanyama is strongly incentivized to accept. That would keep the center of the Spurs’ future in place as the organization tries to turn a historic arrival into lasting success.
Wembanyama has made clear that uncertainty does not bother him. “The lack of experience is a strength for us,” he told ESPN’s Malika Andrews, saying the Spurs can do “impossible stuff” because they do not know it is impossible, and that belief now sits at the center of a team that has already made history.
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