We are all in for a treat with the Western Conference finals between the and , which begins on Monday. Would it surprise anyone if this series is still being talked about decades from now? It’s poised to be the beginning of a rivalry between two franchises with young, championship cores, and could be a pivotal moment for a future dynasty or the birth of a superstar showdown. At the very least, the winner of this series should be favored to win a championship.
There are many reasons this series carries a lot of weight and should be fascinating to watch for everyone, from the casual viewer to the diehard fan. Here are 10:
The Spurs (62-20) and Thunder (64-18) had the two best records in the during the regular season. They both racked up a ton of wins, both because they are two fantastic teams and because so many teams were tanking ahead of the 2026 .
Either way, I was still really surprised to find out this is the first playoff series between 62-win teams in 28 years. The last time it happened was between the and in the 1998 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan clinched the series (and his sixth and final ring) with the famous shot of Bryon Russell.
Overall, it’s the seventh series between 62-win teams in NBA history. The Bulls were part of this each year of their second three-peat (they beat the SuperSonics in 1996 and the Jazz in ’97 and ’98). Then there were the ’85 Finals between the and , the 1981 conference finals between the Celtics and that went seven games, and the 1972 series between the Lakers and that featured Wilt Chamberlain vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
It’s a series between the best two teams in the NBA with two of the best players. just , while (future MVP winner?) behind .
Ideally, this would be the NBA’s next great player rivalry, joining the likes of Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell, Larry Bird vs. Johnson and vs. . Those pairs combined to meet 15 times in the playoffs, including eight times in the NBA Finals.
SGA and Wemby don’t play the same position, but they should be meeting at the rim a few times.
This is pretty much the dream scenario for the Spurs, who were bottom feeders three years ago when they won the Wemby sweepstakes. He almost immediately delivered on the hype as one of the best prospects ever by playing MVP-caliber ball while elevating his team to championship contention at the young age of 22.
That puts him on the cusp of doing things nobody has ever done: no one has led an NBA champion in scoring at this age and no one in NBA history has ever reached the NBA Finals while finishing top three in NBA MVP voting at this age. There were some close calls (Kareem won his first MVP and title at age 23 and LeBron was an MVP finalist when he reached his first Finals in ’07 at 22), but Wemby could be the youngest to reach these heights. And I mean that figuratively speaking, but quite literally, he could also be the tallest (7-foot-4) player to ever start in and win an NBA Finals.
On the other hand, Wemby could just be a footstool for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, like he was in this year’s MVP race. Gilgeous-Alexander can be the fourth player in NBA history to win the NBA MVP and a title in back-to-back seasons, along with Bill Russell (three straight from 1961-63), Michael Jordan (1991-92) and LeBron James (2011-12). SGA can join Jordan as the only players to ever average 30+ points per game and win an MVP and title in back-to-back years.
You cannot understate the magnitude of this series for shaping legacies and dynasties.
Many experts understandably predicted a dynasty for the Thunder after last season, when they became the youngest team to win a championship since the in 1977. This could be another step toward that for a championship team with a young core and a treasure trove of draft picks.
OKC can become the fourth franchise in NBA history to have the best regular-season record in the NBA and win a title in back-to-back years. The Lakers did it twice (1952-54 and 1986-88), the Celtics did this for seven straight years (1958-65) and the Bulls pulled it off during their second three-peat (1996-97).
Once again, all history points back to things that haven’t happened since the Jordan era. So when you’re watching, remember how monumentally important the series is for OKC as SGA and the Thunder attempt to accomplish something last done by the Bulls and Michael Jordan.
Anytime a prospect comes into the NBA with Wemby’s hype, you are expecting MVPs and titles, but it’s still pretty incredible they could be happening this soon. The Spurs lost 60 games in Wemby’s rookie year, meaning San Antonio could become the second team in NBA history to win a title within two years of a 60-loss season. The other team to do it was the 1999 Spurs in Tim Duncan’s second season. Man, Spurs fans are spoiled!
Four other teams won a title within two years of a 50-loss season:
The Spurs might not win this year, but they are ahead of schedule.
This has to be the NBA’s next great rivalry, right? You would hope so. We’ve actually never seen a series this late in a postseason between teams this young.
They both rank as two of the ten youngest teams to reach the conference finals. Plus, teams with an average roster 26.0 years or younger have never met in the conference finals or later. The Thunder are on this list a lot.
2011 Thunder
24.4
1977 Trail Blazers
25.2
2018 Celtics
25.5
2025 Thunder
25.5
2012 Thunder
25.7
1978
25.9
2026 Thunder
25.9
2005
26.0
2026 Spurs
26.0
Wemby’s production has been incredible, but the Spurs also wouldn’t be here without the contributions from Stephen Castle (21) and (20). They are the second age-22 or younger trio to average double-digit scoring in a postseason all-time (minimum 10 games) along with Kevin Durant, and (2011 Thunder). You may have heard of those guys.
The trifecta just combined to average 55 points per game in the conference semifinals and each led the team in scoring twice in the series (Harper in Games 1 and 4, Castle in Games 2 and 6, Wemby in Games 3 and 5). The Spurs became the only team to ever win a playoff series with three different players at age 22 or younger leading the team in scoring at least once during the series.
Castle also just helped close the series by doing something only Magic Johnson had done.
Stephon Castle is the 2nd player in NBA history with 30-10-5 in a series-clinching win at age 21 or younger
Magic Johnson pulled it off in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals as a rookie, starting at center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (42-15-7)
The Thunder have plenty of young talent outside of SGA, too. has emerged as another go-to option with hurt (though he’s expected back for this series) and we’ve already seen what can do. Mitchell just averaged more than 20 points per game on better than 50% shooting in the series win over the Lakers and the Thunder have a +27.7 net rating with him on the court this postseason (+2.5 with him off).
The Spurs were the only team to win the season series vs. the Thunder this year (4-1). So while they are underdogs in this series, we at least have some confidence this won’t be a one-sided affair.
Wemby gives us more than one reason to watch these games: this series also has the “holy crap, look at how big this human being is and what he can do” appeal.
When I’m watching, I’ll be marveling at human evolution. I want to see dunks, swats and logo shots from a 7-foot-4 human being. He already has the most blocks, dunks and threes made (80 combined) by any player through the first 10 games of a postseason on record, breaking Shaquille O’Neal’s previous mark (76 in 1998). And no, Shaq didn’t shoot threes.
How will the Thunder will score when Wemby is in the paint? And how they will attack him to draw him away from the basket? He has the second-most blocks (41) through 10 career playoff games, behind Dikembe Mutombo (62) and the Spurs are limiting opponents to the lowest field goal percentage in the paint (47%) in a postseason since the 2011 Thunder, who had .
Wemby is also the first player to ever average 25+ points and 5+ blocks per 36 minutes in a single postseason (remember, he left a game with a concussion and was ejected from another in this playoff run, bringing his minute total down). In other words, he does not look like a mere mortal.
Both teams, perhaps miraculously, have healthy squads playing great ball. Jalen Williams (hamstring) will be back for Game 1 and the Thunder are 8-0 this postseason. The Spurs are coming off a series vs. the during which they put up the second-largest average margin of victory (+26.5 per game) in any best-of-7 series win all-time.
Hopefully that’s enough to get you hyped for this series. If not, you might want to check your pulse!
