Jason Burgos
If the New York Knicks can win their first NBA Championship in over 50 years this month, a pair of notable NBA experts believe OG Anunoby will play a major role in that historic moment.
The NBA has a dream matchup for this year’s Finals. For the first time in 27 years, the biggest media market in America will have a team in the Finals in Jalen Brunson and the Knicks. On the other side of the equation is a young, talented Spurs team led by the player most expect to take the mantle for LeBron James and Stephen Curry as the face of the league, Victor Wembanyama.
The Spurs have some interesting options to try and slow down Brunson, but the Knicks have the same riddle that teams around the NBA have struggled with: Trying to limit Wembanyama. Not only is the French phenom 7-foot-4, but he can put the ball down and dribble, and he has nearly unlimited range. He’s too athletic for guys his height, but is strong enough to outpower smaller players.
However, the expectation is that the Knicks will look to deal with the Wembanyama problem by throwing second-team All-Defense ace Anunoby. But can a player who is just 6-foot-7 make life difficult for the Spurs superstar? ESPN’s Tim Legler and Richard Jefferson seem to think so.
OG Anunoby’s strength and lateral movement will give Victor Wembanyama trouble
During a media call on Tuesday, the pair of announcers was asked about the Knicks matching Anunoby against Wembanyama, and they were very complimentary. “If you could have a physical profile that you would go into a lab and create and say, this is sort of the physical profile you need to have a chance against [Wembanyama], it probably would look a lot like OG Anunoby,” Legler said [h/t Ian Begley].
He noted that Anunoby being 6-foot-7 is a good starting point, height-wise. However, he believes the 240-pounder’s strength to get physical with Wembanyama, and then his lateral movement to stay in front of him if he looks to drive, are key assets the forward has.
“I think they’ve got about as good a defender as you can for this type of matchup/responsibility,” he said.
Legler’s ESPN colleague Jefferson agreed with him. Although he also noted, “There is no stopping players in the NBA. That’s not a real thing,” and Anunoby will have a foot deficit in height. However, he offered up a different point for why he is high on the forward’s chance of making things very tough for Wembanyama during the NBA Finals. The chip he has on his shoulder.
“What I love about OG is that he felt like he should have been on the first team all-defensive team,” said Jefferson. “Well, you get to go out there and prove it on the world’s biggest stage. So I always love players with a little bit of an edge — that something to prove.”
