2026 NBA Playoffs: When Envy Becomes Fuel

I'm not going to bury the lede here: I find Victor Wembanyama fascinating.

Read the coinciding TRB Sports NBA Finals article on Jalen Brunson here, as well as more on TRB Sports:

That's not just because he's a 7'5" generational talent the likes of which the league has never seen. It's not just because he's a freak of nature that can do everything & anything on the basketball court. And it's not just because he's led his San Antonio Spurs to the NBA Finals at just 22 years young and in just his third NBA season.

It's because of how wise beyond his years he is. I know that's a cliché, but "Wemby" personifies wisdom in youth.

Look no further for evidence than this phrase from Wemby, when asked by the media about his two occasions this season in which he cried tears (of joy) following big Spurs wins:

That's a showcase of some incredible emotional maturity from a 22-year-old kid. Yes, I'm going to continue to emphasize that fact. I've come across a few 22-year-olds over the course of my journey, and yo. "Emotionally mature" would NOT be my words of choice to describe how they move.

Anyway, yeah. I talk on this platform all the time about the importance of allowing yourself to feel emotions, process them, and be self-aware about them. Wembanyama has made the decision to do that, and it's the reason why he finds himself and his Spurs in the Finals (yes, being a 7'5" unicorn helps too.)

In his showcasing of those emotions, I’m definitely intrigued about his behavior and his responses as it regards the Oklahoma City Thunder, their star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and this year's NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

Thunder star and reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Spurs star Victor Wembanyama do battle in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. San Antonio would win the series in 7 games.

It was clear to me in Wembanyama's first two seasons that he had a special level of poise... You know, as I'm writing this, I've made a realization. As I'm attempting to contextualize Wemby beyond the stats and beyond the box scores, it's a tough task to pull off because the stats and box scores he puts out on a regular basis are insane. Almost incomprehensible.

Victor Wembanyama has averaged 20 PPG, 10 RPG, 3 APG, and has led the league in blocks at upwards of 3 per game in each of his first three NBA seasons.

If his regular season stats weren't enough, how about the fact that this year, how about the fact that this year, in his first ever postseason run that's ongoing: 23/11/3 on 51/37/87, with 3 1/2 blocks per game too?

Alright, kids, alright. I don't mean to overly "glaze" Wemby, for real. It's just important to understand what exactly we're dealing with. But let's circle back to the point I was getting ready to make earlier. Wemby's poise.

Wembanyama's career arc to this point (again, just only three seasons in) is eerily similar to the other historical young prospect that analysts claimed would break basketball: LeBron James.

Wembanyama, like James, missed the playoffs in his rookie season, but still won the Rookie of the Year award for his efforts. In Year 2, both generational young guns showcased significant improvement from their first-year faults, but missed the playoffs once again. In Year 3, both Wemby and LeBron made the All-NBA First Team AND broke into the playoffs for the first time.

LeBron was dubbed "The Chosen One" before he even played a minute in the NBA; Wemby was prematurely crowned in similar fashion, but both men have lived up to that astronomical hype.

Wembanyama's got LeBron beat in one area, though: It took Bron 4 seasons to make it to his first Finals. Wemby's done it in Year 3.

As successful and prosperous as Wemby's starting stage of his career has been, he hasn't let that fatten him up in any regard thus far (he's still pretty skinny, haha).

In all seriousness, I mentioned in my previous article covering Jalen Brunson that while success can make many people complacent, people that possess a special, nearly psychotic level of drive seek out and/or embrace ways to keep themselves motivated.

In Brunson' case, it's channeling doubt and dismissal into fire, fervor and desire. For Wemby, his driving force is envy.

As an aspiring sociologist, envy is an emotion that has always piqued my interest. It's an emotion that very few people would ever admit to feeling, depending on the situation. But it's an emotion that everyone has felt and can relate to; some to extreme, uncomfortable levels.

It's not an easy thing to admit that one of your peers has something (or someone) that you want. That you feel they shouldn't have. That you feel should be yours instead.

If you've dealt with an envious person or people before, they often make their envy and covetousness apparent through their actions and words. You'll rarely ever hear them say "hey, that award you have or that car that you have or that friend that you have... I should have it instead." Their pattern of vindictive, spiteful actions will typically leave no doubt, though.

But as we've already established, Wemby is different.

On the mental health section of this platform, I've gone in detail about the level of inner strength and fortitude that it takes to consistently speak up for yourself; to be your own human resources & PR person. In terms of off-court qualities, this is the one that Wemby exemplifies the most. And that's been most apparent when the topic at hand is the MVP trophy.

Once the NBA season hit its final stretch in March, it was very apparent that there were 4 core contenders for the league's most prestigious award: Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Wembanyama. SGA, Jokic, and Wemby were named the three finalists for the award at season's end. But before we even got to that point, Wemby decided to make a giant-sized statement to the media.

That right there is something that’s pretty irregular in pro sports: a player so openly campaigning for his own MVP candidacy. Usually you’ll hear that type of monologue from a star player’s lackeys in the media as opposed to the star themselves, but Wembanyama truly believed in his heart of hearts that he was and is the most valuable singular player in the league, and given his immense impact on both ends of the floor, it’s hard to disagree, honestly.

And once SGA gave this non-response/response to Wemby during a postgame presser weeks later, every NBA fan knew that we now had action.

Unfortunately for Wemby, OKC clinching the West's #1 seed over San Antonio gave SGA a significant leg-up in the MVP race. And sure enough, right before the two teams were set to do battle in the Western Conference Finals, the announcement was made (prematurely by ESPN's Shams Charania). Shai GIlgeous-Alexander, crowned the back-to-back NBA MVP before Game 1, with Wemby watching Adam Silver hand SGA the trophy.

With NBC covering the West Finals, play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico reported that Wemby watched the entire coronation in the background with a blank look on his face; like he was channeling that moment as fuel the whole way. Wemby left little doubt that it lit a spark under him with his superhuman-like performance in Game 1's double-overtime thriller.

Wemby popped off for an efficient 41 points, 24 rebounds and 3 blocks, with a collection of absurdly clutch plays down the stretch; none more absurd than his Steph Curry-ranged game-tying logo three at the end of the 1st overtime period. I mean, look at this shit:

Spurs took Game 1, with OKC bouncing back with a win in Game 2. Both teams traded blowout victories in Games 3-6, and then Wemby turned in a dominant second half performance in Game 7 to push the young-but-ready Spurs over the defending champions on their home floor.

I mentioned the word "vindictive" earlier; I think that's the perfect word to describe Wemby's competitive mindset.

Terms like "envious", "vindictive", and "spiteful" all typically carry negative connotations. But similarly to Jalen Brunson's approach, when athletes allow themselves to sit with these emotions and channel them into competitive fuel, it can work wonders. It can give a star like Wemby that extra push needed to attack victory. And after San Antonio's triumph on Saturday, Wemby confirmed exactly that to NBC's postgame crew.

Again, I don't want to be the dickhead that says "Wemby's superpower is his ability to channel his emotions!" like he's not a 7'5" alien. But I do believe that this incredible competitive edge that he already has at the ripe age of 22 will only get more refined over time. Which is some real scary shit for the rest of the NBA moving forward.

In the NBA historically, a team's journey towards championship status usually requires a lot of pain and heartbreak. I mean, look no further than the Spurs' Finals opponents in the Knicks. New York in the Brunson era has lost a Game 6 in the East Semis, a Game 7 in the same round in the next season, and collapsed brutally in the East Finals last year. Those experiences and battle scars are as big a reason as any why the Knicks find themselves 4 wins away from a title now.

Following this logic, that's what makes the Spurs so impressive. They're largely young, unproven, inexperienced and wet behind the ears. But due to Wemby's league-best value, it hasn't mattered like history tells you it should.

The way Wembanyama and his teammates celebrated following Game 7's final buzzer tells you how much it meant to him to not only advance to his first Finals, but earn some vindication for the award, the "best player in the world" status that he felt belonged to him and not his counterpart on the other side.

Wembanyama and the Spurs celebrate their Game 7 victory over the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

Everyone feels envy. Very few use that emotion in productive fashion; it's often in destructive, insidious, and frankly weird fashion. Many people can take a lesson from this 22-year-old phenom. Feel that shit. Use it. Instead of letting it chip away at your self-esteem by channeling it negatively, use it to improve yourself and your craft. Channel it into your dreams, goals, and aspirations.

You'll be surprised on how much it can flatten the odds against you.