NBA scout says Knicks "laid the blueprint" for attacking Wemby, but he's very wrong

"They really tired him out by just moving him around, attacking him," an anonymous scout told Sports Illustrated about Victor Wembanyama before suggesting the Knicks showed everyone how to attack the Alien.

"They were putting him in ball screens early in the possession, which is kind of the thing that common sense would tell you not to do. But they would put him in that screen, move him around, and I thought they did a good job of wearing him out." - NBA scout

That's one way to characterize what went on in the NBA Finals. New York deserves credit for winning a title and capitalizing on the youth of their opponent, but don't get it twisted: the Knicks benefited from the Spurs' self-inflicted wounds more than anything. That's not a replicable strategy other teams should hope to implement.

Before we get into why this take is ridiculous, we should acknowledge how funny it is to hear a professional scout say that tiring out The Alien is your best bet for defeating him. If that's your greatest hope, you're already screwed by a defeatist mindset. But on to the argument.

Wembanyama entered the Finals with plenty of mileage already on him

As the Spurs finished their seven-game series against the Thunder, everyone said the same thing about the impact that would have on a young squad going further than anyone expected. Heavy legs were bound to become a factor in the NBA Finals, and the Silver and Black didn't help themselves from there.

But if we're going to truly talk about why Wemby looked so gassed, we have to look at the whole picture. Vic only played 46 games last season before being sidelined because of a blood clot diagnosis. When the 2025-26 campaign began, he was averaging 34.3 minutes per game.

At that rate, he would have been more prepared for a heavy workload, but he suffered a calf strain 12 games in. When he returned, the staff kept Wembanyama's minutes low, and he finished the season averaging 29.2 minutes per game.

The Spurs' path to the Finals made Wemby's workload even heavier

The first two rounds could have been used to build more stamina if those teams brought enough competition to the table, but San Antonio's wins against the Trail Blazers and Timberwolves were by an average of 21.1. So Wemby only needed to play 28.1 MPG against Portland and 29.2 MPG against Minnesota.

Then came a tough Western Conference Finals that required much more from the 7'4" superstar. 37.7 MPG over seven games against the defending champs, who play in one of the craziest atmospheres in the NBA. He followed that up with 39.8 MPG against the Knicks, where he was routinely playing full 12-minute quarters, and by then, it was just too much.

This all seemed like something that many people knew could happen at the time, but now, all of a sudden, it's about what New York did to him? Nah. Wembanyama was tired out by a grueling run his body was likely ill-prepared for. It had little to do with the Knicks and definitely not enough to be considered anyone's "blueprint."

Sounded good, though.

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