On Saturday evening, the San Antonio Spurs advanced to the final round of the NBA Cup by defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinal game, ending their 16-game winning streak in the process. It was an epic performance by Victor Wembanyama in limited minutes, making several clutch shots and also controlling the game on defense.
After the game, Wembanyama raised eyebrows with his comments about the Spurs' “ethical basketball,” which many took as a slight against the Thunder and their perceived foul-baiting ways.
Now, the former number one overall draft pick has added some more context to those comments.
“In modern basketball, we see a lot of brands of basketball that don't offer much variety,” said Wembanyama, per Oh No He Didn't on X, formerly Twitter.
Overall, the Thunder, and in particular point guard Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, have drawn criticism for their perceived fouling on one end of the floor while grifting for calls on the other. It should be noted that Oklahoma City is very much not unique in this regard, and that the Spurs both currently and during their dynastic years had players known for embellishing contact in order to draw whistles.
Still, Wembanyama's comments came at a time when many fans are beginning to see the Spurs as the Thunder's biggest potential threat in the Western Conference, and when Wembanyama's apparent rivalry with Thunder forward Chet Holmgren is continuing to boil.
The Spurs and Thunder will get two more matchups against one another in the coming weeks, the first of which will occur on December 23 in San Antonio. Then, two days later, the teams will face off once again, this time in Oklahoma City for a Christmas Day game.
Before that, however, the Spurs will try to win the NBA Cup tournament on Tuesday evening vs the New York Knicks.


![Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1), guard Devin Vassell (24) and ]center Luke Kornet (7) react as the final buzzer sounds during a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at T-Mobile Arena with the Knicks logo in the background](https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Spurs-All-Star-Victor-Wembanyama_1ec103.jpg?w=200&quality=90)
















