Kenny Smith Likens Victor Wembanyama's Play to Nick Anderson's 1995 Finals vs Rockets

Is this a fair comparison?

Jun 5, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) after the game between the Spurs and the Knicks in game two of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

San Antonio Spurs superstar big man Victor Wembanyama has been a major topic of discussion throughout the NBA Finals. Granted, Wembanyama has been a major talking point in general, since entering the league in 2023.

Well, actually even before that, as teams were doing everything possible to tank their way to the top pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. In fact, Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta even admitted that he was praying for the top pick, to be able to draft the French man. 

Granted, Fertitta had a relatively playful tone and undertone, but he surely meant it. As the old saying goes, there's truth behind every joke.

This Finals series between Wembanyama's Spurs and the New York Knicks has been much more entertaining than one would have or could have imagined. In fact, the consensus heading into the series was that the Western Conference Finals matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Spurs would essentially turn out to be the Finals.

In other words, whichever team won that series was going to be throwing a championship parade, when it was all said and done.

It hasn't quite gone that way. At all.

The Knicks find themselves up 2-0, after stealing both of the first two games in San Antonio. Wembanyama hasn't quite performed up to the expectations. Granted, the expectations have been unrealistic, as people have already been calling him one of the greatest players of all-time -- a bar that's far too high and lofty for a third-year player, as noted by Robert Horry, although Horry faced ridicule for pointing that out.

In Game 1 of the series, Wembanyama went 6-for-21 and had the same number of field goals as turnovers (although he did still finish with 26 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks). In Game 2, Wembanyama came out flat -- with just seven points on 2-of-4 in the first half. He did turn it on in the second half, scoring 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting.

However, Wembanyama had a game-defining turnover with 10 seconds to go, which is what his Game 2 performance will be most remembered for. The Spurs had the chance for the final shot with the game tied at 104. 

Wembanyama's four turnovers were tied for a game-high in the game. He had another opportunity to close the game out but was tightly defended by Mitchell Robinson and missed. 

Former Rockets guard Kenny Smith likened Wembanyama's series performance to former Orlando Magic wing Nick Anderson's performance during the 1995 NBA Finals series against the Rockets.

"Nick Anderson. When he missed those free throws, he became in shock. We were so worried about Nick Anderson when we walked into that series. And throughout that series until he missed them. 

KAT has him in shock. A great player is in shock."

Smith references Anderson's four consecutive missed free throws in the waning moments of Game 1 of the series. Anderson averaged nine points through the rest of the series, on 29 percent shooting from the field, 28.5 percent from deep and 50 percent from the foul line.