Victor Wembanyama’s first NBA Finals run changed the way some commentators talked about him, and Jason Whitlock turned that shift into a direct attack on Gregg Popovich.
The San Antonio Spurs star entered the postseason with the profile of the league’s next clean superstar. By the end of the run against the New York Knicks, his physical play, visible frustration, and post-series reaction had become part of a much harsher debate.
Whitlock went further than most by blaming the Spurs’ longtime coach for what he sees in Wembanyama now.
Jason Whitlock blames Gregg Popovich for Victor Wembanyama reputation shift
In comments shared by Jason Whitlock on X, the commentator said Popovich had shaped Wembanyama into something far different from the image many fans once embraced.
“I blame Gregg Popovich for what Victor Wembanyama has become. Victim Wembanyama,” Whitlock said. “I want you to look at this collection of lowlights that Wembanyama put together during this postseason that totally transformed his reputation.”
He added, “Victor Wembanyama entered into this season, ‘Oh, he’s the new face of the NBA, and he’s super competitive, and unlike the LeBron James era, he’s going to be different.
“He wants to compete with everybody.’ And, he’s bought the hype that he’s bringing this nastiness to the NBA.”
Whitlock’s argument centered on the idea that Wembanyama’s playoff edge crossed from competitiveness into something less appealing.
That criticism grew louder during the Knicks series, when his contact, complaints and late-series body language were picked apart online.
Jason Whitlock says Victor Wembanyama became cheap under Gregg Popovich
The sharpest part of Whitlock’s criticism came when he connected Wembanyama’s playing style to Popovich’s wider influence.
“He really wants to compete, and he’s old school. But he’s gone too far, and he’s just a dirty player. Just a dirty, cheap, petulant, spoiled, no gratitude, no appreciation for America,” he continued.
“He’s a communist, like Gregg Popovich. Gregg Popovich turned this great basketball creation into [something] everybody now hates,” Wembanyama concluded.
Those are Whitlock’s claims, not a settled league view. Wembanyama still delivered elite production in the Finals, including 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks in the Game 5 loss, and many still view him as the NBA’s next defining player.
Yet the Finals also showed how quickly public perception can harden. The Knicks beat the Spurs in five games, and Wembanyama’s first title-stage defeat came with criticism over physical plays and how he handled the loss.
Whitlock turned that into a political and cultural indictment of Popovich. Whether fans agree or reject it, the comments show Wembanyama is no longer being discussed only as a basketball phenomenon.
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