The 2026 NBA Finals saw a thrilling meeting between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks. Ultimately, it was the Knicks who came out on top in five games, but every contest saw full of excitement, drama and finishes that will go down in history.
It also saw a battle of two of the best big men in the NBA in Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama and Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns. This was something that Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal loved to see as he is always touting the importance of bigs in the NBA and he was happy for both, via Melissa Rohlin of the California Post:
“I love [Wembanyama] and I love KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns], so for me this is really good,” O’Neal told The Post. “Two big men battling it out. Let the best big man win. Usually in the Finals it’s all about guards. But these Finals are about two big men, so I have an affinity, a love, for both of them. So whoever wins, I’m happy for them both.”
O’Neal may get some pushback on the idea that the Finals were about the big men, especially coming off Knicks guard Jalen Brunson’s all-time classic performance to close out the series in Game 5. There was also plenty of discussion on the performances of Spurs guards De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper and how important that was to the outcome of the Finals.
However, it can’t be argued that the matchup between Towns and Wembanyama was absolutely critical, with Towns’ defense on the Spurs big man drawing praise throughout the series. Wembanyama shot just 42.3% from the field and 27.3% from 3-point range in his first NBA Finals appearance as Towns made things very difficult while mostly being able to avoid foul trouble aside from the last games.
O’Neal is always going to focus on the bigs as that is his area of expertise. He holds them to a high standard and expects the best from players of this caliber. Most of the focus is usually on the guards, but with bigs like Wembanyama and Towns shining on the biggest stage, not to mention Nikola Jokic at the top of the mountain, and other young rising stars like Jalen Duren and Chet Holmgren, there is a big man renaissance and that makes O’Neal happy.
Shaq confident in hypothetical against Wemby
When a center bursts onto the scene, they are often compared to O’Neal thanks to his greatness and dominance throughout his career. He was recently asked what would happen if he played Wembanyama one-on-one and expressed confidence in the matchup, even if he knows the Spurs star would score on him.
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