For the longest time, Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley have been highly critical of Karl-Anthony Towns for not being aggressive. The Inside the NBA duo even called out the New York Knicks star for “playing soft” and failing to use his size. But KAT’s defense silenced Wembanyama when it mattered most, holding him to 2-12 shooting in their individual matchups, vindicating Barkley’s long-standing criticism. It even led to an argument, which only got tense when Chuck sided with Towns over Wembanyama.

“[I choose] KAT. Wemby is not an aggressive player,” Barkley responded when Shaq questioned who was the better player when aggressive.

And when Shaq asked Barkley if he was sure about his answer, the latter decided to go all in.

“Shaq, your biggest problem is that you think everybody has your personality. Wemby is a nice kid. Yeah, he can be aggressive at times, but he ain’t that guy who gets to the gym and says, ‘I’m gonna take everybody’s lunch money every day.’ He needs to get going and going and going like you.”

“I got KAT because he’s double-loaded,” concluded Barkley. “He can shoot the three and go to the basket.”

Shaquille O’Neal, on the other hand, argued that when Wembanyama played aggressively, he was able to produce 41 points and 24 rebounds in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Thunder. Charles Barkley used the same analogy to drive his point home, suggesting that the monstrous double-double was great. But the 22-year-old finished Game 7 of the Thunder series with just 22 points and 7 rebounds. This, according to Chuck, is not domination.

Wembanyama’s struggles were evident across the board, even during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. He would score just 6-21 from the field, which is only 28.6%, and this further looks awful when Wemby could convert just 2-9 from beyond the arc, on a disappointing 22.2%. The worst part of the ordeal was the defense from Karl-Anthony Towns, who was usually not known for being a good defender.

With the French center being held to shoot 2-12 FG when guarded primarily by KAT, the Knicks star left his mark. In 34 minutes, he showed versatility with 12 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 block. He also logged 18 points on 7-15 from the field, a healthy 46.7% shooting, and a +/- of +14.

However, despite losing his NBA Finals debut, Wembanyama remained confident he could turn it around.

Victor Wembanyama Not Switching Gameplan Amid Game 1 Disaster

Not just a matchup, the French star failed to rally his team when the chips were down. In the final six minutes, Wembanyama went 1-for-5 from the field as the Knicks ended the game on a 12-0 run. Despite this, the Spurs head coach praised the 22-year-old for being accountable and for his mindset.

“I don’t know how to quantify that to answer that, but I would say that he definitely holds himself accountable,” Johnson said. “I would suspect that he’ll learn a lot of things from tonight’s game and come out with a good approach in Game 2.”

Even Victor Wembanyama did not shy from accepting his mistake. But vowed no big changes were needed.

“It’s not like I have anything to figure out,” Wemby added. “It’s almost like I have to be normal, not even good… It’s like just doing the right things is enough… When we shoot ourselves in the foot, this is why I’m not worried. We’re going to be so much better. I’m going to be so much better. Every team guards differently; I’m going to figure it out. I was bad tonight. It’s not more complicated than that. I think we let that one go.”

Spurs did lose Game 1 of the series against the Wolves, but ultimately took the series win home. Similarly, they were in a do-or-die 3-2 situation against the Thunder but won two straight, including Game 7, to make it to the Finals.