Victor Wembanyama has already joined an elite NBA Finals club before the series has started.The 22-year-old ‘Alien’ from France has carried the San Antonio Spurs to this year’s Finals, with Game 1 vs the New York Knicks taking place on Wednesday night in Texas.Wemby is way ahead of schedule and has already made the NBA Finals at 22GettyWemby is only in Year 3 of his young career, but has the Spurs back in the Finals for the first time since 2014 after eliminating the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in seven games in the Western Conference Finals.The towering center was named Western Conference Finals MVP for his efforts in that series, to go along with his Defensive Player of the Year crown which he received for the regular season.Now, Wembanyama is just four wins away from basketball immortality, with only Jalen Brunson and the Knicks standing in his way.The Spurs are the second-youngest team to reach the NBA Finals in the shot-clock era at an average age of 25.06 (average age weighted by playing time). They are the youngest team since the 1977 Trail Blazers, led by a 24-year-old Bill Walton, who won the championship that year with an average team age of 25.03 years.Wemby is the tip of the spear, carrying much of the offensive load and leading the Spurs in scoring this postseason. He is averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in the playoffs so far.Victor Wembanyama joins rare NBA Finals club with Kobe and LeBronThe French phemon is doing things rarely seen, and has already made NBA history before a Finals ball is tipped.Entering the 2026 NBA Finals, Wembanyama joins Kobe Bryant in 2001 and LeBron James in 2007 as the only players this century to lead their team in scoring entering the Finals at 22 or younger.Bryant won the Finals that season, however, James came up short against the Spurs.“That’s the Top 3 in the GOAT conversation,” said one fan.“Wemby joining Kobe and LeBron in that exclusive scoring club at 22 is special His supporting cast is different but the raw talent is undeniable,” said another.A young Kobe outscored Lakers teammate Shaq en route to the title in 2001AFPLeBron led the Cavs to the Finals in 2007 as the team’s leading scorerGettyWemby thinks Spurs’ inexperience can be a positiveWembanyama has already showed a maturity well beyond his years, and continues to present himself as an old head on young shoulders.Speaking Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s opener at Frost Bank Center, the Spurs star repeatedly stressed that reaching the Finals is not the end goal.“And the emotion was really something I haven’t felt in a while. I don’t even know since when,” Wembanyama said. “Coming back down from this is a challenge and it’s not done yet.”“We still need to really come back down to earth and realize that we haven’t done the hardest yet,” Wembanyama said. “The job isn’t done at all.”Wemby now has the chance to tie Kawhi Leonard, who led the Spurs to the title in 2014, as the second-youngest Finals MVP behind Lakers legend Magic Johnson.Despite the Spurs’ relative inexperience on the big stage, Wembanyama thinks that could be actually be a strength.Wemby, 22, is part of the second-youngest team to ever make the NBA FinalsGettyNBA's GreatestGreatest NBA players in the world right now – from Luka Doncic to Spurs phenom Victor WembanyamaBest players in NBA history to never win a championship – James Harden and Carmelo Anthony to Allen Iverson and Karl Malone10 richest owners in the NBA – family empires, media moguls and investment gurusMichael Jordan’s top 10 scoring games – counting down MJ’s most extraordinary totals“What’s special about this group, as for any team? The individuals. We got some great individuals, whether it’s in the staff or in the team, and I would say the relentlessness and the lack of experience are a strength for us… Because we don’t know what we could do, we can do impossible stuff because we don’t know it’s impossible,” Wembanyama said.Addressing the narrative that a team needs to undergo adversity and be patient to understand the value of what it takes to win a championship, Wemby added: “I agree to be patient, but just to some extent. “I think being impatient can be a virtue at times because all those greats have been impatient. They, and if you’re impatient 10 times, maybe nine times you’re going, you’re just going to be impatient.”“But maybe that one time it’s going to make you do something that you were not supposed to do. Make you play over your level, make you overachieve. And I think that’s the difference maker between good and great.”He also took the opportunity to praise the Knicks’ experience and persistence.“It’s a great team,” he said. “It’s a great team of experienced guys who are not here by chance, but by relentless effort over the years and very different career paths for all of them.”“So, they’re right where they’re supposed to be in my opinion and all of them are going to be super hungry in their own way.”