Shaquille O'Neal blasts Spurs' Victor Wembanyama over 'blurry' admission, calls for him to step up

Shaquille O’Neal blasts Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama over ‘blurry’ admission, calls for him to step up originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The San Antonio Spurs were heavy favorites coming into the NBA Finals after taking down the Oklahoma City Thunder just last weekend. The Spurs are led by Victor Wembanyama, one of the most unstoppable young stars in the game.

The New York Knicks came in as underdogs, and after Friday night, they head back to Madison Square Garden with a 2-0 lead. Wembanyama essentially handed the Knicks the game on Friday.

“Having just contested a Jalen Brunson miss, Wembanyama grabbed his ninth rebound and looked to initiate the fast break for what could have been the game-winning basket. The Frenchman would later admit urgency got the better of him, ultimately leading to the Spurs falling 105-104 to the New York Knicks to go down 2-0 in the series,” ESPN’s Michael C. Wright wrote.

After the game, Wembanyama was visibly frustrated with his performance. There were some things he said that probably shouldn’t have been said, but the most intriguing was that he admitted to being blurry.

“I’m still very blurry, and that’s the whole problem. I need to have more poise, more control over the game. That’s the general image,” Wembanyama told the media.

During Inside the NBA, Shaquille O’Neal heard about these comments and suggested they could only motivate the Knicks further to get inside his head. O’Neal framed it as almost a rookie mistake to admit something like that.

“As the leader you should probably say ‘it’s on me.’ Don’t say things are blurry. If I’m anybody on the NYK, I’m coming at his head. That sounds like he’s flustered. As that guy on that team, you just gotta step up…. Say ‘my bad. The last two possessions I didn’t play well.’ Don’t say blurry. He*l nah,” O’Neal said.

There is no doubt that Wembanyama’s postgame press conference was interesting, to say the least. In a way, he gave the Knicks extra bulletin board material and insight into where his mind is at.

At the professional level, it is never good to let teams know where you are mentally, especially in the Finals. This could be a huge learning curve for Wembanyama. It will be interesting to see if New York talks a little more to him knowing he is “blurry.”

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