Tim Legler spent the NBA Finals watching every possession from a front-row seat in the broadcast booth. He noticed the inconsistent whistle. He noticed the momentum swings. But more importantly, he noticed something Victor Wembanyama couldn’t overcome.

While much of the post-Finals conversation centered on Wembanyama’s reaction to the San Antonio Spurs’ five-game loss to the New York Knicks, Legler was focused on a different question: Why wasn’t the league’s most gifted young superstar the best player on the floor when the championship was on the line? Appearing on The Dan Patrick Show after the series, the ESPN analyst offered a blunt assessment of the Finals.

“Yeah, he had a good Finals. He didn’t have a sensational Finals. He wasn’t the best player on the floor,” Legler critiqued. “They probably needed him to be more often, particularly in the fourth quarters of games. I’m not going to say he didn’t have a good Finals; I think he did. And I think there were times that he went through stretches where he had dominance, but it was for short bursts more so than sustaining it throughout the 48 minutes. And certainly in those moments that determined this series, that, I think, is where his biggest challenge comes from.”

Legler emphasized that Wemby’s unique 7’4″ frame dictates a different set of offensive rules compared to traditional star players who operate with ease at the perimeter. Lucky for him, a legendary big man set the blueprint on how to make that.

“I just think there’s an area of the floor he hasn’t mastered yet that he has to,” Legler explained. “And it’s that area from 15 to 20 feet in that Dirk Nowitzki-type top of the key, elbows, jab step, shoot over you, jab step, go by you with one dribble. He doesn’t really operate much in that area of the floor. It’s either rim runs or he’s behind the three-point line a lot. So, I think that’s the next step in the evolution for Victor Wembanyama, and it’ll help him decide games.”

Dirk Nowitzki’s signature stepback fadeaway was ahead of its time for a big man. While most retired NBA players-turned-analysts want Wemby more in the paint compared to Mitch Johnson’s offensive schemes – keeping him on the outside, perhaps that kind of move would also help the French phenom adjust at the perimeter.

Victor Wembanyama’s deficiency defined his Finals performance

Legler’s tactical advice is a huge underpinning of the Spurs’ performance throughout the Finals. Now that the dust has settled and the advanced metrics are in, it’s easy to see that Wembanyama’s fourth-quarter efficiency plummeted significantly in the Finals. In contrast, the Knicks always staged outstanding late-game comebacks by pushing him away from the basket.

Because Wemby lacks a polished mid-range, triple-threat game, the Knicks were able to comfortably park defenders in the paint. Not just with Wemby; the Knicks’ defenders could aggressively push out Spurs players and force them into difficult three-point attempts that didn’t stick. While someone like Stephen Curry is adept at finding alternative scoring lanes, the young Spurs squad is still lacking the experience of a high-pressure series to execute that.

It’s worth noting Legler’s post-Finals assessment in light of his real-time analysis as a play-by-play commentator. Legler, with Mike Breen and Richard Jefferson, repeatedly called out Wemby’s blatant, flagrant fouls that went uncalled. On occasion, they physically endangered himself and the opposing player because of his sheer size. According to their observations, the Spurs didn’t use Wemby’s size to their advantage.

While Wembanyama’s regular-season trajectory established him as a generational talent, the unforgiving environment of the Finals proved that raw dominance in short bursts is no substitute for a sustained mid-range counter-attack.

For the Spurs, Legler’s critique serves as the definitive offseason homework assignment. They would have to look to Dirk Nowitzki’s standard to transform Victor Wembanyama into an extreme rim-to-perimeter hybrid.