The 2026 NBA Conference Finals are here, and the matchups are delicious. In the West, a 22-year-old French phenom who just won Defensive Player of the Year leads the San Antonio Spurs against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. In the East, the New York Knicks — fresh off the most dominant two-round sweep in modern playoff history — await the winner of a Game 7 bloodbath between the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Let's break down how we got here, who's about to get paid, and what it all means for the players' wallets.
The San Antonio Spurs are heading to their first Western Conference Finals since 2017. The man responsible? Victor Wembanyama. The 22-year-old French center — fresh off his Defensive Player of the Year award — dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves in a 139-109 Game 6 blowout that sealed the series 4-2.
Wembanyama put up 19 points, six rebounds, three blocks, and two assists in just 27 minutes. Meanwhile, his French compatriot Rudy Gobert — the four-time Defensive Player of the Year — finished with zero points on 0-of-4 shooting in 22 minutes. One French big man looked like the future. The other looked like he was playing with oven mitts.
Stephon Castle led the Spurs' attack with 32 points and 11 rebounds on 11-of-16 shooting, while De'Aaron Fox added 21 points. The victory was vindication for Wembanyama, who was ejected from Game 4 for elbowing Naz Reid in the throat — a moment that could have derailed a lesser player's confidence. Instead, he responded with a masterpiece.
"The words 'Conference Finals' just seem surreal right now," Wembanyama said after the game. Surreal for him. Terrifying for the rest of the league.
Now the Spurs face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder — a team San Antonio went 4-1 against in the regular season. The Thunder are heavy favorites for another championship, but Wembanyama and the Spurs have already proven they can beat them. Game 1 tips off with the highest stakes the franchise has faced in nearly a decade.
👽 Wembanyama's Conference Finals Reality Check: "I just won DPOY at 22, I'm leading the Spurs back to the Conference Finals, and I'm still on my rookie contract making $13.4 million. Somewhere, an agent just whispered, 'The supermax is coming.'"
The Oklahoma City Thunder dispatched the Los Angeles Lakers 115-110 in Game 4, completing a 4-0 sweep that improved their playoff record to 8-0. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points and eight assists. Ajay Mitchell scored 28 points, 10 of them in a frantic final quarter. Chet Holmgren sealed the game with a dunk with 32.8 seconds left.
LeBron James scored 24 points with 12 rebounds in what may or may not be the final game of his 23rd NBA season. He missed a shot that would have given the Lakers the lead with 20 seconds left. Austin Reaves — the Lakers' best scorer in the series — missed a three-pointer that could have tied it. Then LeBron was spotted staring down DeAndre Ayton, a moment that went viral and launched a thousand memes.
The Thunder are 8-0. They're scary. But the Spurs have beaten them four out of five times this season. The Western Conference Finals are about to be a chess match between the league's most complete team and its most unguardable player.
The New York Knicks completed the most dominant two-round sweep in modern NBA playoff history by destroying the Philadelphia 76ers 144-114 in Game 4. Their 19.4 point-per-game margin of victory through two rounds is the largest since the playoffs expanded to 16 teams in 1984.
Deuce McBride — starting in place of the injured OG Anunoby — hit seven three-pointers and scored 25 points. Jalen Brunson added 22. The Knicks drilled 18 three-pointers in the first half alone, scoring 54 points from beyond the arc compared to Philadelphia's 57 total points. That's not a basketball game. That's a shooting range with a defense on the side.
Knicks fans took over the Sixers' arena, raising brooms outside and waving "Always Knicks" towels once inside. This is their second straight Eastern Conference Finals appearance. Joel Embiid ended another injury-riddled season with 24 points and the Sixers still haven't advanced out of the second round since 2001.
The Knicks now await the winner of Pistons-Cavaliers Game 7. Whoever survives will be bruised, exhausted, and walking into a Madison Square Garden buzzsaw.
The Detroit Pistons — the No. 1 seed in the East — were on the brink of elimination, trailing Cleveland 3-2 in their second-round series. They responded with a 115-94 blowout victory at Rocket Arena, forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 in Detroit.
Cade Cunningham led the charge with 21 points and five three-pointers. Dennis Schröder — representing Germany — logged 15 minutes off the bench but went 0-of-4 from the field. The Pistons' early onslaught built a double-digit lead that Cleveland never recovered from.
Donovan Mitchell had a historic Game 4 earlier in the series, scoring 43 points with 39 coming in the second half, tying an NBA playoff record for most points in a half. But Game 6 belonged to Detroit's defense. Game 7 will decide everything — and the winner gets a Knicks team that's been resting and waiting.
Before the Conference Finals matchups were set, the first round delivered one of the greatest shots in Raptors history. RJ Barrett hit a three-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining in overtime to lift Toronto past Cleveland 112-110 in Game 6, forcing a decisive Game 7.
The shot bounced high off the rim before dropping through — immediately drawing comparisons to Kawhi Leonard's iconic four-bounce buzzer-beater against Philadelphia in 2019. Tyrese Haliburton, watching from home while recovering from his ACL injury, tweeted "That looked familiar".
Donovan Mitchell — referencing Leonard's 2019 shot — said, "First thing I thought of was Kawhi Leonard, to be honest". Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic described the moment: "It was only half a second, but it felt like an eternity". The Raptors would go on to lose Game 7, but Barrett's shot will be replayed in Toronto for the next 20 years.
Every deep playoff run increases a player's value. Wembanyama is about to become eligible for a supermax extension that could approach $326 million. Jalen Brunson's leadership of the Knicks has elevated him into the conversation for the league's elite point guards. Cade Cunningham is proving he can carry a No. 1 seed.
But the playoffs also mean more jock tax. Every away game in a taxing state triggers a non-resident filing. A deep playoff run can mean five figures in unexpected state tax bills — just ask Sam Darnold, who lost $249,000 to California's jock tax after winning Super Bowl LX. These players are making millions, but they're also spending millions on taxes they never saw coming.
Further reading: Free Agent Playbook: Compare After-Tax Earnings · Victor Wembanyama: The Alien Who Found Home · What Is the Jock Tax?
Curious how much these playoff stars actually take home after taxes, escrow, and agent fees? Run the numbers for any team:
Use the Free Calculator →Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. All calculations are estimates based on publicly available data. Always consult a qualified professional.
← Back to Articles