The 2026 NBA Finals tipped off on Wednesday night with an intense back-and-forth affair between Jalen Brunson’s New York Knicks and Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs. On an evening where neither star was particularly efficient, Brunson willed the Knicks to a 105-95 victory, scoring 30 points on 12-for-31 shooting.
Wembanyama’s losing effort included 26 points on 6-for-21 shooting, and there’s rising concern that the 7’4″ Frenchman may be too fatigued after an intense seven-game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder to turn things around and get San Antonio back in the series.
“Wemby looked tired. I don’t know if he shot his wad in the first half or what happened, but I just, I don’t know what the answer is,” The Ringer’s Bill Simmons told former NBA head coach Doc Rivers during a Game 1 recap on The Bill Simmons Show.
Bill Simmons and Doc Rivers think Wemby looked tired and sped up last night:
Bill: Wemby looked tired. I don’t know what the answer is
Doc: I texted you in first half and said Wemby looks sped up tonight. I think he had 6 or 7 turnovers Bill. A lot of them were putting the ball… pic.twitter.com/TarC2EVzrD
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) June 4, 2026
“I texted you in the first half. Wemby looks sped up tonight,” Rivers responded.
“And one of the things I would look at first is how many dribbles did he have? I know that sounds crazy, but it felt like he dribbled the ball way more than usual,” Rivers added. “The other thing is time of possession. How often did he hold the ball and have the ball in his hands? It, it looked like way more than usual. Yeah. And so I think that played right into the Knicks’ hands.”
Simmons and Rivers aren’t the only ones concerned with Wemby’s fatigue and approach. ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst said that he noticed a low energy level from Wembanyama as early as the first quarter.
“He might deny it, but I felt Victor Wembanyama was low on energy from the first quarter,” Windhorst said on SportsCenter after the game. “Now I know the game started out frenetic. I know when the stakes are high, you sometimes see players need their second wind. I saw Victor bending over and grabbing his shorts midway through the first quarter, and I didn’t think he was able to maintain a good energy flow for most of the game.”
“I felt Victor Wembanyama was low on energy from the first quarter.”@WindhorstESPN says Wemby’s energy level might play a factor in this series 👀 pic.twitter.com/6c4aMxv7lf
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 4, 2026
“I think Brunson smelled it down the stretch that he was moving quicker than Victor,” he added. “And that’s gonna be something to monitor. In the last series, I felt it went up and down. So he could just as easily come out Friday and have that more of a burst, but this is something that I think is going to be a story in this series. What is Victor’s energy level?”
For his part, Wemby doesn’t feel there are any underlying issues that need to be addressed and that it’s simply a matter of him playing better. He’ll have an opportunity to prove himself right and show that he has enough left in the tank to get the job done in Game 2 on Friday night.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.