LeBron James said San Antonio keeps getting lucky with generational talent, a remark that landed as Victor Wembanyama was powering the Spurs through the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City. The comments came on a recent episode of "Mind the Game," where James pointed to the franchise’s run of No. 1 overall picks and the players it found with them.
The Spurs have used the No. 1 pick three times, taking David Robinson, Tim Duncan and Wembanyama. Robinson and Duncan are both in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and James said the pattern reflects more than luck alone, praising the way those stars carry themselves and stay locked on the mission. He said Wembanyama has the ability to do things the league has never seen before, adding that his IQ and demeanor show he knows the game and was taught the right way.
That praise arrived with Wembanyama already giving James plenty to talk about. In Game 1, he scored 41 points and grabbed 24 rebounds, joining Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to post more than 40 points and more than 20 rebounds in a conference finals debut. He also became only the second Spurs player, alongside Robinson, to record more than 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game.
The young center followed that with another heavy performance Wednesday night, finishing Game 2 with 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocks as the series moved to 1-1. Game 3 was scheduled for Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET and marked the Spurs’ first home game of the series, putting even more attention on a franchise that has built its identity around rare big men and bigger expectations.
Robinson won two championships with San Antonio, and Duncan won five, but Wembanyama’s postseason surge has already put him in that lineage before the series has even reached its midpoint. For James, the surprise is no longer that the Spurs found another franchise player. It is that San Antonio may have done it again, and this time the league is watching in real time.
