What Shaq is asking Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama to do to win an NBA Championship

Victor Wembanyama, in his first ever playoff run, has led the San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals. But the first two games of the series against the New York Knicks have proven to be quite humbling for the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Game 2, in particular, was a disaster for Wembanyama, as his turnover proved to be the backbreaking blow in the 105-104 defeat they suffered to fall down 2-0 in the series.

Considering how no NBA team has ever come back from a 2-0 deficit in the Finals after losing the first two games at home, the Spurs appeared to be in huge trouble heading into Game 3 against the Knicks. The Madison Square Garden crowd can eat anyone alive. But Wembanyama and the Spurs stayed the course, remaining composed as they earned a 115-111 victory to stay alive in the series.

After the game, the legendary Shaquille O’Neal, who has made his fondness of Wembanyama no secret, had a message for Wemby that he wants the Spurs star to take to heart if he were to get over the hump.

“I don’t want you to be like me. I want you to have a certain mentality. The same mentality I had, the same mentality Patrick Ewing had, that Draymond [Green] had. He came out with a lot of energy, a lot of effort. I see it in the last series, whenever he’s high in scoring and playing like that, the team plays well,” O’Neal said on Inside the NBA.

“I’m not asking him to be me. I’m asking him to have that mentality because this is what it takes to win a championship.”

"I'm not asking [Wemby] to be me. I'm asking him to have that mentality because this is what it takes to win a championship."

—@SHAQ on Wemby's mentality pic.twitter.com/23XALWMklO

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 9, 2026

Wembanyama put up 32 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in the ever-crucial Game 3 win, and from minute one, he was locked in. This is what great players do, and as a result, the Spurs’ hopes of winning another title remain alive despite still facing a 2-1 deficit in the series.

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