There are levels to this.And Victor Wembanyama, who possesses the talent and inner drive to become the best player in NBA history, is stuck at the ‘pain’ level after suffering his first NBA Finals loss.Victor Wembanyama is learning how hard it is to win the NBA FinalsgettyWemby feels ‘pain’ after NBA Finals loss“It just hurts,” said Wembanyama, after his San Antonio Spurs blew a 29-point third-quarter lead to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA Finals inside a delirious Madison Square Garden. It’s numbing pain for the generational talent, who oddly gave the ball away at the end of a frustrating Game 2 home defeat, and walked into his New York hotel after Game 4 being heckled by screaming Knicks fans. Wemby was similarly crestfallen after a 94-90 Game 5 loss that ended San Antonio’s season and handed the Knicks their first championship since 1973.“It’s painful,” Wembanyama said after the game.“But I’m not running away from that. I’m using it to fuel me. I’m sure all these guys you named, they’re not satisfied with being eliminated in the earlier rounds or not making the playoffs. I’m not satisfied with not winning. This is the biggest lesson of my life. As a team, there’s no better experience than what we just lived.”“The margin for error is very thin,” Wembanyama said. “Our domination stints are absolute. We absolutely dominated for most of the series. But our errors, our mistakes are punished so hard that we can’t have ups and downs like this so much, you know? The ups are OK. The downs are the reason we lost.”Wemby could feel pain of first Finals for decadesThe Spurs were unable to follow LeBron James‘ 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and become only the second team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 Finals deficit.Instead, the 2026 NBA Finals will be remembered for Finals MVP Jalen Brunson becoming the king of New York, Timothée Chalamet’s takeover, OG Anunoby’s instant-classic tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, Karl-Anthony Towns’ heartfelt tributes to his late mother, and all those crazy Knicks fans storming midtown Manhattan.Wemby will be haunted by his first Finals — and his first playoff run — until he finally wins one.Even then, a 7ft 4in French phenom who can be absolutely unguardable will have to live with losing in his first Finals appearance.Wemby is feeling the same Finals pain that Michael Jordan felt on his way to greatnessgettyWemby’s greatness was not enough to overcome a united and determined Knicks squadgettyWaiting for The RingSeason winning their first NBA FinalsMichael Jordan: 7th (1991 vs Los Angeles Lakers at 27-years-old)LeBron James: 9th (2012 vs Oklahoma City Thunder at 27-years-old)Victor Wembanyama: 3rd – and counting (Lost 4-1 to Knicks in 2026 Finals at 22-years-old)“We saw the dumbest basketball team in the history of civilization,” said Charles Barkley on Inside the NBA after Game 4, while seemingly forgetting that he never won the Finals.“Congratulations to the Knicks on coming back but, Chuck, I agree with you,” said Shaquille O’Neal, who won four Finals rings and set the stage in the 1990s for unguardable centers.“They (Spurs) played terrible basketball. They got comfortable with the lead.”It took Michael Jordan seven dramatic seasons to reach the peak of the NBA mountain.LeBron had to wait nine years for a trophyThe GOAT with a perfect 6-0 Finals record was forced to overcome a broken foot and lost year, three head coaching changes and the ‘Bad Boy’ Detroit Pistons dominating the Eastern Conference. LeBron James faced an even tougher path to the top, being deemed The Chosen One in high school, then watching his hometown Cavs fall short in seven consecutive campaigns.NBA'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 totalsThe King had to make a life- and city-changing decision to leave Cleveland, then form an almost unfair Big Three with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami just to win the Finals in his ninth season.When James finally won it all, he was stuck with a 1-2 record on the NBA’s greatest stage and forever behind MJ in the minds of millions.Spurs’ collapse will become part of Wemby’s legacyWemby has now experienced the same searing pain that Jordan and James felt as they slowly climbed up the NBA’s mountain.It took the greatest players in modern history years to capture an elusive ring.Wemby lost 4-1 to Finals MVP Jalen Brunson and the KnicksgettyWembanyama is only 22-years-old and could rule over The Association through the next decade.“Winning the Larry O’Brien, it’s a childhood dream,” Wembanyama said before the Finals began.“The day we win it, speaking for myself, it’s going to be an amazing day of a realization of a dream. It’s hard to put into words. It’s almost like the meaning of my life.”“What I’m p***** about is, there’s probably a hundred games before we can be back in the Finals,” Wembanyama said after Game 5. “I don’t know how to say it in English. But I’m going to have to hold that inside of me, slow down, wait and execute for a hundred games. It’s going to be all of it [shaping my mentality in the future]; who we are, what we’re made of, our experiences.“This has been a hell of a year in terms of experience. I don’t think we could have learned more and gained more experience in one playoff run and in one season, and personally in 18 months. This is the biggest lesson of my life, the biggest learning moment. I can’t tell you exactly what the lesson is. But we’re learning from that. I’m learning more than any other time in my life.”Wemby must absorb and process the pain of becoming the NBA’s next great superstar before he can lift a trophy that forever changed Jordan and James. Stay up to date with the NBA across all our talkSPORT platforms – subscribe to our YouTube channel for the latest news, opinion, exclusive interviews and our daily unfiltered, unscripted show ‘The S* Word, from 8am ET