There are a ton of eyes on San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama in his first ever NBA Finals appearance. And while there have been some hiccups and rough patches, as is to be expected for a 22-year old, he has also had some outstanding moments and has continually found himself making history so far.
The latest came after Game 3 with Wembanyama leading the Spurs to a victory and bring them to a 2-1 series deficit against the New York Knicks. The big man finished with 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three blocks and has now joined Los Angeles Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal with his performance through three games, via OptaSTATS:
In his 3 career NBA Finals games, Victor Wembanyama has 85 points and 10 blocks.
The last player to hit each of those marks over a span of three NBA Finals games in a season was Shaquille O'Neal in 2001. pic.twitter.com/HRz3vkqXeS
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 9, 2026
Those 2001 Finals were perhaps the absolute peak of O’Neal in his entire NBA career, so for Wembanyama, at just 22 years old, to be putting up numbers comparable to that is mind-blowing. O’Neal totaled 102 points and 12 blocks in the first three games against the Philadelphia 76ers, putting forth an absolute dominant performance against that year’s Defensive Player of the Year, Dikembe Mutombo.
Wembanyama hasn’t been quite as dominant as that with 87 points and 10 blocks in the first three games, but that doesn’t take away from what he is doing in his first ever NBA Finals appearance at such a young age. There has been so much pressure on him from the moment he stepped foot in the league and at every step he has somehow exceeded those expectations.
It seems as if every time Wembanyama makes history in these playoffs his name is being put alongside a Lakers legend. He joined Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as the only players at his age to lead the team in scoring going into the NBA Finals while winning the Western Conference Finals MVP award along the way, which of course is named after Magic Johnson.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson in awe at Victor Wembanyama joining him in record books
Wembanyama’s best performance of the Finals so far was in Game 3 and those numbers again put him alongside a pair of Lakers icons. Johnson admitted to being in awe as Wembanyama became the second-youngest player with at least 30-5-5 in the Finals, behind Johnson’s legendary Game 6 in the 1980 NBA Finals, surpassing Bryant’s outing in the 2001 Finals.
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