Victor Wembanyama Towers Over the Thunder, and the Game of Basketball

Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs’ supernova, opened the Western Conference Finals, against the Oklahoma City Thunder, with forty-one points and twenty-four rebounds in a double-overtime game that seemed to reset the possibilities of professional basketball. He ended Game Seven, a thrilling 111–103 win over the defending champions, with a pedestrian stat line—twenty-two points, two assists, seven rebounds—and a glimpse of his dreams. And when it was over, after he had broken down in tears and screamed with euphoria and relief, he hugged and leaned on his teammates, who had, for much of the second half, become the best versions…