{"id":2173,"date":"2026-05-31T04:35:29","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173"},"modified":"2026-05-31T04:35:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T04:35:29","slug":"wembanyama-wins-west-finals-mvp-and-looks-ahead-to-nba-finals-matchup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173","title":{"rendered":"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama holds the MVP trophy as he celebrates with teammates after Game 7 of the Western Conference finals of the NBA basketball playoffs series win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo\/Tony Gutierrez)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2014 When the Western Conference finals started, Victor Wembanyama watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hoist a Most Valuable Player trophy<\/a> that the San Antonio Spurs star desperately wanted.<\/p>

Read more Dennis Hull, who starred for the Blackhawks and helped Canada win the \u201972 Summit Series, dies at 81<\/a><\/p>\n

Wembanyama left the series with an MVP trophy of his own \u2014 and a whole lot more.<\/p>\n

The French standout \u2014 in just his third season \u2014 has led the Spurs to the NBA Finals<\/a> . The newly crowned Western Conference finals MVP had 22 points in a Game 7 win at Oklahoma City<\/a> , one that gave San Antonio a chance to play for the NBA title for the first time since 2014. It\u2019ll be San Antonio vs. New York in the NBA Finals, starting Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWinning the Larry O\u2019Brien, it\u2019s a childhood dream,\u201d Wembanyama said, referring to the name of the trophy given to the NBA champions. \u201cAnd having a real shot at it, having a chance, a tangible chance at winning it and realizing a dream \u2026 it\u2019s a lifetime chance. You never know when it\u2019s going to happen again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to put into words. It\u2019s almost like the meaning of my life now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He averaged 27.3 points and 10.9 rebounds in the series, scoring at least 20 points in every game. He set the tone with a 41-point effort in a Game 1 win, then did a little of everything \u2014 dunks, blocks, playing point guard even \u2014 to keep control on the way to the Game 7 win. He was the unanimous pick as series MVP, which should be no surprise. He carried that trophy into the locker room after the game, screaming in joy at supporters and teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou work all these hours, it\u2019s for these type of emotions,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cI want to win so bad. It\u2019s like my life depends on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the night he was drafted, Wembanyama talked about all the things he knew about San Antonio. Breakfast tacos, which he couldn\u2019t wait to try. Spanish, which he said he wanted to learn. The culture, which he said he wanted to embrace.<\/p>

Read more Christian Scott earns his first win, Hayden Senger hits first homer as Mets beat Marlins 6-1<\/a><\/p>\n

And, of course, the winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ring,\u201d Wembanyama said that night.<\/p>\n

The ring. The championship ring. Not even three years since leaving France and coming to the U.S., Wembanyama is about to get his first chance to play for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best player in the world,\u201d Spurs forward Keldon Johnson yelled at no one in particular, but making clear everyone knew who he was talking about.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t get that NBA MVP trophy. But it wouldn\u2019t be difficult to say Wembanyama indeed is the best player in the world. Or at the very least, will be soon. He might not even be near his prime yet. The Spurs are young and built for the long haul.<\/p>\n

Translated: This may just be the start.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you step into a game in regular season, you don\u2019t even look at the big picture of the season. You look at what you need to do tonight, what you have to do in the first half, on the first possession,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cAnd when you lay a brick like this every time you get a chance and you lay it perfectly fine, at the end of the day you get a big castle \u2014 a beautiful house and we just did. This, it\u2019s just like the entry hall of our castle right here.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Eric Cole gets another shot at his 1st PGA Tour win after 63 in 3rd round at Colonial<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/nba<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Western Conference finals started, Victor Wembanyama watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hoist a Most Valuable Player trophy that the San Antonio Spurs star desperately wanted<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nWembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When the Western Conference finals started, Victor Wembanyama watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hoist a Most Valuable Player trophy that the San Antonio Spurs star desperately wanted\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-31T04:35:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/522a67cf94a1551f0625f32e5ca0f2e5-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T04:35:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173\"},\"wordCount\":673,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173\",\"name\":\"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-31T04:35:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=2173#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"When the Western Conference finals started, Victor Wembanyama watched Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hoist a Most Valuable Player trophy that the San Antonio Spurs star desperately wanted","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-05-31T04:35:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/522a67cf94a1551f0625f32e5ca0f2e5-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup","datePublished":"2026-05-31T04:35:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173"},"wordCount":673,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173","name":"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-31T04:35:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4b021b6a04b02a6ddb08b2e34819309a-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=2173#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wembanyama wins West finals MVP, and looks ahead to NBA Finals matchup"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}