OKLAHOMA CITY — Let's be honest: the Thunder spent the last 12 months being called the NBA's gold standard. Defending champions. Nine straight playoff wins. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just received his second consecutive MVP trophy on the Paycom Center floor before tip-off. The crowd was roaring. The confetti was ready. This was supposed to be the coronation.
Then a 7-foot-4 Frenchman who spent last summer waking up at 4:30 a.m. in a Shaolin monastery — eating vegetarian meals, running up Chinese mountains until his feet blistered, and earning himself an official "Shaolin Level One" martial arts certification — walked into the building and reminded everyone who the best player on Earth actually is.
Final score: Spurs 122, Thunder 115. Double overtime. 49 minutes of basketball. And one undeniable truth: Victor Wembanyama is not from this planet.
🛸 The Stat Line Heard Around the World: 41 points. 24 rebounds. 3 blocks. 3 assists. 14-of-25 from the floor. 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. One three-pointer — and it was the most important shot of the night. Age: 22 years, 134 days. The youngest player in NBA history to record 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
In June 2025, while most NBA players were on yachts in the Mediterranean or grinding in private gyms in Los Angeles, Victor Wembanyama did something so unconventional it looped back around to genius: he flew to Henan province, China, walked into the Shaolin Temple, and asked the monks to train him.
Not a photo op. Not a marketing stunt. He shaved his head, ate vegetarian meals alongside actual monks, and trained daily with a single physical coach — waking every morning at 4:30 a.m. for regimens that were reportedly more intense than the standard Shaolin warrior training. He passed the Shaolin Duanpin System examination and was officially certified as "Shaolin Level One," becoming the first NBA player in history to hold a martial arts rank from the legendary temple.
When asked what the monks taught him, Wembanyama's answer was characteristically thoughtful: "Very interesting. The people there don't speak English or French, so what I understood from their teachings, I had to deeply interpret myself. That helped me enormously — especially in 2025, which was a year I needed a lot of growth and self-reflection."
This is the detail that matters: Wembanyama didn't just go to China to get stronger. He went to get quieter. After a 2024-25 season cut short by a shoulder blood clot — a genuinely frightening injury — he sought not just physical recovery, but mental recalibration. The Shaolin monks gave him both. And the results are showing up on the biggest stage in basketball.
🧘 The Shaolin Math: 10 days in a monastery → DPOY award (unanimous, 100 first-place votes) → Western Conference Finals Game 1 masterpiece → Hupu 10.0 perfect rating from the most notoriously critical fans on Earth. Somewhere, an NBA trainer is googling "少林寺 进修 价格."
Let's talk about the two faces of this Western Conference Finals, because the stylistic contrast is genuinely hilarious.
On one side: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — the MVP. The league's most surgical mid-range scorer. A player so skilled at drawing contact that Chinese fans have bestowed upon him one of the most creatively savage nicknames in modern sports history: "要饭王" — the "Beggar King," a reference to his alleged tendency to "beg" for foul calls. Other variations from the Hupu forums include "罚球商人" (Free Throw Merchant), "乞丐" (Beggar), "丐版帮主" (Budget Version Leader), and the especially creative "挨既罚佬亚历山大" — a Cantonese pun comparing him to an Egyptian pharaoh who punishes those who foul him.
Chinese commentator Su Qun defended SGA against these labels, arguing that the "beggar" tag "prevents fans from appreciating his fundamentally excellent skills — look at his pull-up jumper, his step-back, his fadeaway. If it were so simple, more players would hit them at that percentage."
Fair point, honestly. SGA's game is built on craft, not gimmicks. He averaged 31.1 points per game this season on 55.3% shooting. The MVP was earned. But Monday night in Game 1, the "Beggar King" shot 7-of-23 from the floor and scored just four points in the first half — his worst shooting half in 270 games, regular season and playoffs combined, dating back to October 2023.
Meanwhile, Wembanyama was doing whatever he wanted. Dunking over three defenders at once. Flexing. Blocking shots without leaving his feet. Hitting a 28-foot desperation three at the end of the first overtime — his only triple of the entire night — to force a second extra period. Then closing the game with back-to-back dunks and a three-point play in the final minute.
Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix captured the dynamic perfectly: "After watching Shai Gilgeous-Alexander receive the MVP trophy, the Spurs star responded with a 41-point masterpiece to steal Game 1... Gilgeous-Alexander earned the MVP this season, but Game 1 offered definitive evidence: Wembanyama is the best player in the world."
👑 The MVP vs The Best Player: SGA raised the trophy before the game. Wembanyama raised his game after it. One of them had hardware. The other had a 41-point, 24-rebound playoff masterpiece. You can decide which matters more.
If you've never spent time on Hupu — China's largest sports forum, with millions of users and a famously brutal rating system — understand this: getting a perfect 10.0 on Hupu is basically impossible. The community prides itself on never being satisfied. LeBron James has a 6.6 career Hupu rating. Even Steph Curry, beloved in China, sits at 8.7.
But when the clock hit zero in Oklahoma City, and the Hupu game thread exploded, something remarkable happened: the score held at 10.0. Perfect. Impeccable. No notes. "He really never disappoints," one top comment read. Another user, describing Wembanyama's fourth-quarter spin move and dunk, first-overtime Curry-range step-back, and second-overtime one-man close-out: "This is what an alien playing basketball looks like."
The 10.0 rating — which in Hupu's display system rounds up from a score above 9.95 — places Wembanyama in the most exclusive club in Chinese sports fandom. It's the same score the community gave Curry for his 2022 Finals Game 6 performance, and Kawhi Leonard for his 2019 playoff heroics. Only a handful of players have ever touched a perfect 10 on Hupu. Wembanyama just did it in his first Conference Finals game, while SGA — the MVP — shot 7-of-23.
🔴 Hupu's Final Word: "末节的转身两分，第一个加时的库里式超远绝平三分，第二个加时的扣篮与一条龙造犯规，再加上延续整场的防守干扰与进攻篮板的拼抢，这就是外星人在打篮球么？" Translation: "A spin move and dunk in the fourth. A Curry-range game-tying three in the first overtime. Dunks and a one-man press in the second. Plus relentless defense and offensive rebounding all night. Is this what an alien playing basketball looks like?"
After the game, a reporter asked Wembanyama whether watching SGA receive the MVP trophy before tip-off made the game feel personal. His response was pure competitor: "Yeah, for sure. Everything you just said."
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson was even more emphatic when asked if Wembanyama played with extra fire: "A hundred percent. I thought his level of physicality and execution through physicality was tremendous."
Translation: the kid from France who trained with Shaolin monks watched the "Beggar King" collect his trophy, decided that was unacceptable, and proceeded to deliver the most devastating playoff performance by a 22-year-old in NBA history. Wembanyama's message was simple: Oklahoma City has been the West's elite for two years. Everyone calls them the gold standard. Well — 老子打的就是精锐. "I'm here to fight the elites." And fight them he did.
| Player | Points | Rebounds | FG | Minutes | Hupu Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victor Wembanyama | 41 | 24 | 14/25 | 49 | 10.0 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | 24 | — | 7/23 | — | — |
| Alex Caruso | 31 | — | 11/19 | — | — |
| Dylan Harper (Rookie) | 24 | 11 | — | — | — |
One more detail worth noting: the Spurs did this without De'Aaron Fox, sidelined by right ankle stiffness. San Antonio was shorthanded. Oklahoma City was at full strength, with Jalen Williams returning from a six-game injury absence. And the result was still the same — San Antonio's fifth win in six meetings against the Thunder this season.
Every playoff game like this adds millions to a player's future earnings. Wembanyama is currently on his rookie contract making $13.4 million this season — the single most team-friendly deal in professional sports. This summer, he becomes eligible for a supermax extension that could approach $326 million. Performances like Monday night make the number climb toward the ceiling.
And because San Antonio is in Texas — zero state income tax — Wembanyama keeps roughly 45% of his gross salary after federal tax, agent fees, FICA, and escrow. For a $60 million annual supermax, that's approximately $27 million in actual take-home pay. By contrast, if he played in California, the 13.3% state tax would slice off an additional $8 million per year.
But let's be honest: after a 41-point, 24-rebound playoff masterpiece that silenced the defending champions and earned a perfect 10.0 from China's most critical fans, Wembanyama could demand ownership stake in the Spurs and Pop might actually consider it. The kid who trained at Shaolin just outplayed the MVP on his own floor. The supermax isn't a question anymore. It's a foregone conclusion.
Further reading: NBA Conference Finals 2026: Full Preview · Free Agent Playbook: Compare After-Tax Earnings · No State Tax Teams vs. High Tax States
See how much of a supermax contract like Wembanyama's actually hits the bank after taxes, escrow, and agent fees:
Use the Free Calculator →Disclaimer: This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute financial, tax, or legal advice. All calculations are estimates based on publicly available data. Hupu ratings cited are from the Chinese basketball forum Hupu and reflect fan sentiment, not official NBA metrics. Always consult a qualified professional.
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