Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs had a stunning season run end in a disappointing 2026 NBA Finals performance. The New York Knicks secured their first championship since 1973 in a 4-1 series win over the Spurs that included a historic comeback in Game 4 and a title-clinching comeback in Game 5.
Wembanyama struggled in the losses, shooting under 40 percent from the field in three of those games and having issues with the physicality of New York, particularly with Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins appeared on the Yahoo Sports Daily morning show and sounded off about Wembanyama’s performance in the NBA Finals.
“He was soft and he was scared.” 🫢@KendrickPerkins sounds off on Victor Wembanyama’s NBA Finals performance.
(via Yahoo Sports Daily) pic.twitter.com/oXEbMUghwM
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 17, 2026
“Wemby was soft,” Perkins told Yahoo Sports Daily hosts Jason Fitz and Caroline Fenton. “Let’s keep it real. He was soft, and he was scared. Especially in the big moments. He did a whole lot of barking in the interviews, but he did no biting whatsoever.”
“And if I’m in that locker room, and they bring me in, the first thing I’m going to do is actually tell him to embrace being a big man first with guard skills,” Perkins, an NBA champion with the 2008 Boston Celtics, explained.
“After Game 1 and Game 2, they made an adjustment and started hiding Wemby so that he didn’t have to guard Karl-Anthony Towns,” Perkins said. “Like, we’re talking about the Defensive Player of the Year. You’re 7-5. You could be the most dominant player in the league by just embracing being a big man.”
The NBA Finals were certainly a great learning experience for Wembanyama, who’s still just 22 and was in only his third NBA season. Perhaps Wembanayma will “embrace being a big man” next postseason for the Spurs.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.