When Victor Wembanyama broke down in tears after the San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, most of the basketball world read it as a young superstar finally exhaling. Josh Hart read it as a tell.
Speaking alongside teammate Jalen Brunson during a live taping of "The Roommates Show" at Madison Square Garden on Friday, the New York Knicks forward explained why that emotional scene convinced him the Spurs were beatable in the NBA Finals.
"Everyone's talking to them about, 'Yo, they've got to beat OKC. OKC's going to repeat,'" Hart said. "They beat OKC. For a young team, I feel like that was the mountaintop for them."
That, Hart said, was the moment he turned to Brunson on the bench. "That's when I looked at [Brunson] and I was like, 'You see that reaction? Because they think they're going to win it. They think it's over.'"
The Knicks made sure it wasn't. New York rallied from double-digit deficits in all four of its wins — including a record 29-point comeback in Game 4 — and closed out the series in five games to claim the franchise's first title since 1973, a 53-year drought.
Hart's point was about mentality, and he drew a direct contrast with how his own team handled reaching the Finals. The Knicks had swept the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the East for the first time in 27 years, yet there were no tears.
"You look at our reaction after we beat Cleveland — it was tough to celebrate because we were like, 'We got four more,'" Hart said. "Obviously winning the Eastern Conference is an amazing accomplishment, but we all looked at this like this is just a step. This isn't the destination. This is just a step."
Wembanyama had every reason to feel the weight of the moment. He had just dragged a roster that missed the playoffs for six straight years before his arrival past a 64-win Thunder side, averaging 27.3 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.7 blocks across the conference finals and taking home the Magic Johnson Trophy as series MVP.
He was not the only one to find the tears telling. Kevin Garnett, who built his Hall of Fame career on a relentless next-game mindset, took issue with the celebration when it happened.
"He's crying in the Western Conference finals. That was too emotional for me," Garnett said. "He got four more games to try to get. You've got to go through the Finals now. You've still gotta be even-keeled right here."
Not everyone agreed. Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley were among those who praised Wembanyama for letting his emotions show, framing it as proof of how much winning meant to the 22-year-old.
Wembanyama himself has never apologized for wearing his feelings openly, saying previously that he refuses "to carry the burden of hiding my emotions."
Whether the tears actually cost San Antonio anything is impossible to prove, and the Knicks' veteran poise in clutch moments — they were the better team down the stretch of every close game — likely mattered more than any read on body language. But for Hart and Brunson, the celebration in San Antonio was an early sign that their opponents thought the hard part was already behind them.
