Mike Brown Admits the Challenge of Containing Victor Wembanyama: ‘You Pray'

The New York Knicks are primed for an NBA Finals matchup against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.

Wembanyama has been almost impossible to contain in his first playoff campaign. Through his first 17 career postseason games, the 7-foot-4 Frenchman is averaging 23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per contest.

Wembanyama led the Spurs past the reigning NBA-champion Oklahoma City Thunder, earning Western Conference Finals MVP honors after an impressive showing through seven games in the thrilling series.

On Monday, Knicks head coach Mike Brown was asked about the challenge of containing a player like Wembanyama.

“You just hope a guy like that, you can find ways to make him work. You pray,” Brown said. “I had some buddies that are monks, I can’t go to them because he’s got that part of the religion all wrapped up.”

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Brown was referencing Wembanyama’s famous trip to study with the Shaolin monks before the start of the 2025-26 NBA season.

“I’ll tell you what, he’s a special human being,” Brown continued. “To watch him from afar, to see how he gets himself ready - that might be second to none. That is high level the stuff that he goes through in the offseason. … I’ve never seen a guy that young prepare himself [like that].

“At his size, at his talent, at his ability - you’ve got to hope he misses some. You’ve got to keep mixing things up.”

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Game 1 of the NBA Finals will begin at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 11:26 AM.