Victor Wembanyama turned Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals into a showcase for a shot few seven-foot-four players even try, much less make. With less than a minute left in overtime, the San Antonio Spurs forward-center buried a deep three to tie the Oklahoma City Thunder, and San Antonio went on to win in double overtime.
That finish is why Wembanyama is still at the center of basketball conversation now. He is seven feet, four inches tall and often attempts five or more three-point shots per game, a volume that stands apart in a league where the tallest players are usually asked to live near the rim rather than fire from deep. The shot also landed in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals, where one possession can change a series and shift the path to the NBA Finals in June. For readers following the broader MVP picture, the name Jokic still hovers in the same orbit as Wembanyama and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but this was Wembanyama’s night.
The mechanics behind it are part of the intrigue. Ahead of Game 6 against Oklahoma City on Thursday, Scientific American spoke with physics and biomechanics experts about why Wembanyama can keep doing this. Larry Silverberg said of him, “He’s just launching that thing,” and added, “It’s extremely unique.” His height helps him get the ball away from defenders and gives him an unusual release point, a point Silverberg and a co-author explored in a 2008 study that suggested higher starting points on free throws can improve accuracy if the shooter does not lose consistency.
That is the part that makes Wembanyama different from the usual big man story. Height in the NBA is normally an advantage for blocking shots and cleaning the glass, not for taking deep threes in overtime with a Finals berth hanging in the balance. Yet Wembanyama keeps stretching the idea of what a frontcourt player can do, and the Spurs' Game 1 win showed how dangerous that can be when the game is tight and the clock is almost gone.
The next turning point is already set: Game 6 against Oklahoma City is on Thursday, and the winner of the series will meet the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals in June. If Wembanyama keeps hitting shots like the one that saved Game 1, the rest of the postseason will have to make room for a player who is changing the geometry of the court in real time.
