FIRST ENCOUNTER

Victor Wembanyama arrived plenty long ago. The defending champs met him in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, and were introduced to the concept of their own demise.

Good morning. Well, it's morning somewhere. Let's basketball.

Every NBA fan with a beating heart and a sense of wonder hoped and believed that the Western Conference Finals series between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder could be two weeks of basketball magic if only based on the Thunder's supreme excellence and the Spurs' shocking handling of said supreme excellence this regular season. Storylines abounded, with many of them centered around wunderkind Victor Wembanyama's feelings: his feelings about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander convincingly winning an MVP award he, Victor, felt should have been his own; his feelings about rival tall Chet Holmgren; his feelings about when it's his turn to claim the league's ultimate throne.

To say that Game 1 delivered is an understatement. Regardless of how the series resolves, Game 1 ended up as one of the most dramatic and even historic playoff games we've seen in years. In such a hotly anticipated series, to have everything that happened in Game 1 happen in a Game 1, it's frankly intimidating. What is left but sullying such beauty? What is left but coronation or vengeance? What is left but something less grand to behold?

What is left after this?