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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The marquee outside of Madison Square Garden in December 1949 once promoted the following event, which was happening a couple of days later: “Geo Mikan vs Knicks.”
Not “Minneapolis Lakers vs. Knicks.” Just George Mikan. The NBA’s first one-of-a-kind big man.
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It feels like history repeating itself now. The NBA Finals start Wednesday, with the San Antonio Spurs facing the Knicks for the title. And the marquee for this series — in San Antonio, in New York, in Paris and countless other points around the globe — may as well say “Wemby vs Knicks.”
Victor Wembanyama keeps stepping onto bigger and bigger stages. The latest version of the NBA’s one-of-a-kind big man — a title once held by the likes of Mikan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal — will have all eyes on him in this series, and probably for every game he plays for the rest of his life. He’s not “on the way” to superstardom. He’s there. And this series is giving him his first chance at putting champion on his resume.
“This is the best basketball on the planet that’s being played right now,” Wembanyama said after San Antonio won Game 7 at Oklahoma City to capture the Western Conference title. “And the crazy thing is … I want to do that 15, 20 more times. Let’s hope it doesn’t become an addiction. Maybe it is already.”
It may as well be an addiction. San Antonio is clearly addicted to him.
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There’s no Major League Baseball in San Antonio, no NHL team, no NFL team. As far as big-time pro sports go, it’s the Spurs and nothing else. And those who drive five minutes in any direction in this city will see the proof.
School’s out in San Antonio. It’s summer. The city’s public library was buzzing Monday, and a few kids just happened to be noticing a new display not far from the front desk. “Read Like Wemby,” it said, and it featured five books that Wembanyama has been known to read in the past. An Instagram account — wembybooks — starting posting images of him with books, local media in San Antonio caught on and the library came up with an…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/wemby-vs-knicks-fitting-marquee-212927696.html
Author : TIM REYNOLDS
Publish date : 2026-06-01 21:29:00
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