Victor Wembanyama Dishes on Spurs-OKC Thunder Rivalry Talk

Saturday was our first true taste of what the future holds for the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs. The two met for the first time this season in Vegas during the Western Conference Semi Finals of the NBA Cup. This game was met with physicality, intensity and playoff level basketball.

The two sides played a nail biting contest, with the Spurs pulling off the upset in a 111-109 win over the Thunder. Victor Wembanyama was stellar, in 21 minutes he was a +21 on the floor thanks to his 22 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks off the bench to erase a 16 point deficit.

He completely changed the game, making life harder on Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the tune of five turnovers, blocking Chet Holmgren in the mid-range to summarize his offensive night and Jalen Williams labored his way to 17 points on 16 shots. Not to mention Oklahoma City's lowly 24% from beyond the arc as a team.

This is just the second loss for Oklahoma City, snapping their franchise best 16 game winning streak on National TV in a stand alone game. A statement for the young Spurs. Though, these two sides will get together two more times to close the month on Dec. 23 and Dec. 25, once in San Antonio and then again in Bricktown.

The Thunder will have an answer to this opening punch of the now five-game regular season series. However, it did show the world that the Thunder and Spurs are set to be the next great NBA rivalry, meeting in high-stakes games such as Saturday's affair for many years to come.

Over the weekend, each sides superstars were peppered with questions about this matchup and the long term outlook of both franchises.

"I think we are not quite there yet. But it's a good sign that people see that it's possible. Because it is not like we are the second seed right now. And I don't think anybody right now, can claim to have a rivalry with them in the league, they are in their own tier. But in the future, provided that the stage is this good, and we reach that level, of course, it would be great to have a rivalry. If you are at the top and you have rivalry, it means you are in the best positions to win titles. So, I am very interested by it," Wembanyama explained Tuesday.

While Wembanyama took a respectful approach to this question, Saturday Gilgeous-Alexander echoed those same sentiments calling it a possible that this rivalry materializes.

"Possibly. Yeah, there's a good chance. They, like you said, are young, really good, have a lot of talent, play the right way. They play a good brand of basketball," Gilgeous-Alexander said of the Spurs as potential rivals following Saturday's semifinal game. "But yeah, definitely, definitely it's a possibility. I've noticed that anything can happen in a couple years. So, yeah, it's definitely a possibility. Not a hundred percent but definitely a possibility, for sure."

Both stars are right. For this rivalry to really get off the ground, Saturday's game can not be the only big time matchup these two sides play. However, as soon as this year they could have their first playoff series.

With each franchise building around a young core with budding superstars, it only makes sense to tether them together in the Western Conference and bank on this rivalry becoming a thing. It has certainly added even more juice to the end of the month.

“No one can claim to have a rivalry with them, they are in their own tier”

Wemby on the Spurs Thunder rivalry pic.twitter.com/q3x9rxjUJR
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) December 15, 2025