Wembanyama Admits Mistakes Cost Spurs as Knicks Win NBA Championship 4-1

Wembanyama after Spurs fall to Knicks in NBA finals

Victor Wembanyama said “I wasn’t ready to win a ring” after the Spurs lost 94-90 to the Knicks in Game 5. San Antonio blew double-digit leads in all four Finals losses.

Wembanyama rues turnovers, fouls in Spurs' NBA finals loss to New York Knicks...

Victor Wembanyama got his first shot at an NBA title earlier than expected, and the 22-year-old Spurs star says he wasn’t ready for it.

“I wasn’t ready to win a ring. That’s clear,” Wembanyama said after New York beat San Antonio 94-90 at home Saturday to take the Finals 4-1. The French phenom looked dejected post-game.

San Antonio led by double digits in all four losses, but Wembanyama pointed to too many mistakes and missed chances from the young Spurs team.

“In terms of desire to do well, intensity, effort, we were at a good level, me, too,” he said. “But experience ... it's about the mistakes.

“We're not lacking in talent or ability, but we make too many mistakes. I make too many mistakes.”

The 7-foot-4 Wembanyama is only in his third NBA season, but he carried San Antonio to the league’s second-best record.

They knocked off defending champs Oklahoma City in the West finals, surviving two elimination games to win the series in seven.

Against the gritty Knicks though, San Antonio’s youth showed. Costly mistakes cost them when it mattered most.

The mistakes hurt. Wembanyama had a costly turnover late in Game 2, then picked up a flagrant foul in Game 4 that fired the Knicks up - they came back from 29 down to win that one.

He looked like NBA Defensive Player of the Year again in Saturday’s must-win Game 5, dominating early. But he couldn’t stop San Antonio from blowing another double-digit fourth-quarter lead.

Proud of this team. GSG. pic.twitter.com/DCKmdEPiod

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) June 14, 2026

“Compared to anything before, this is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment,” Wembanyama said.

“I can't tell you exactly what the lesson is, but we're learning from that, for sure.

“It has been a hell of a year in terms of experience,” he said, adding that one of the hardest aspects of the defeat is that “there's probably a hundred games before we can be back in Finals.

“I'm going to have to hold that inside of me and slow down and wait and execute for a hundred games,” he said.

It didn’t help much that NBA legends like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Magic Johnson all had years of playoff pain before they finally won titles that proved their greatness.

“It's painful,” Wembanyama said.

“But I'm not running away from that. I'm using (it) to fuel me. I'm sure all these guys you named, they're not satisfied with being eliminated in earlier rounds or not making the playoffs.

“I'm not satisfied with not winning. But as I said, this is the biggest lesson of my life. As a team, there's no better experience than what we just lived.”