Victor Wembanyama reveals lasting pain from San Antonio Spurs’ NBA Finals defeat

Victor Wembanyama admitted the disappointment of the San Antonio Spurs’ NBA Finals defeat by the New York Knicks has remained with him during the off-season on Monday, with the Frenchman admitting he has experienced difficult nights ahead of the new campaign.

Speaking at the Spurs’ media day, Wembanyama said he had chosen to confront the emotions following the five-game Finals defeat rather than trying to move on from the loss too quickly.

“It evolves with time, but I've had a few sleepless nights,” the 22-year-old said.

“Maybe not sleepless nights, but hard to find sleep sometimes or hard emotions, haunting sometimes.”

The Spurs reached the Finals in Wembanyama’s third NBA season, marking a significant step forward for the franchise after the young centre established himself as one of the league’s leading defensive players.

Wembanyama said San Antonio was prepared to use the disappointment of falling short as motivation for the upcoming season.

“We don't want to hide from anything. We're going to face these emotions,” he said. “We're in a great spot. We're very hopeful, very ambitious, and we're ready.”

The 7-foot-4 centre signed a multi-year contract extension with San Antonio in July after producing career-best numbers last season.

Wembanyama averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists across 64 regular-season games as the Spurs made their run to the NBA Finals.

He also became the youngest player to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award and led the league with 3.08 blocks per game.

The Spurs will now look to build on their Finals appearance when the new campaign begins.