OKLAHOMA CITY -- In the closing seconds of a stunning San Antonio Spurs conference finals takedown of the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Victor Wembanyama folded his 8-foot wingspan in half to grip the inside lining of his jersey, nearly ripping it in half in celebration.
On the other end of the floor, Wembanyama's teammate, Devin Vassell, had just delivered a exclamation point dunk with 4.1 seconds left to finish a 111-103 Game 7 road win, sealing Wembanyama's first trip to the NBA Finals five months after his 22nd birthday.
In the immediate aftermath, for nearly two minutes, Wembanyama screamed several times at the floor, broke down in tears, circled the area in front of the Spurs bench and alternated between hugging teammates and letting out euphoric yells.
There were no congratulatory meetings with the defeated opponent, only the celebration of an accomplishment he has long craved despite his relative NBA inexperience.
"Winning the Larry O'Brien, it's a childhood dream," Wembanyama said. "Having a real shot at it, having a chance, tangible chance at winning it, realizing a dream.... The day we win it, speaking for myself, it's going to be an amazing day of a realization of a dream. It's hard to put into words. It's almost like the meaning of my life."
Wembanyama and the young Spurs are attempting to crash the championship party far quicker than history suggested feasible. San Antonio just became the first Finals team with its two top scorers -- Wembanyama and third-year guard Stephon Castle --- age 22 or below and the second youngest Finals team based on weighted minutes played, according to ESPN Research. The 1977 Portland Trail Blazers were the youngest.
"He has such a vision, in my opinion, of who he wants to be as a person and a player," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Wembanyama. "The commitment and investment he puts in that vision is like nothing I've ever seen before."
Wembanyama had plenty of help from a stunningly advanced supporting cast.
Castle, at 21, has taken a star turn in these playoffs, averaging 19.2 points and 6.7 assists in the 18-game run to the Western Conference crown, while also serving as the primary defender on Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the past two rounds.
Harper, the 20-year-old rookie drafted second 11 months ago, had 24 points in the critical Game 1 overtime win, scored 18 in 22 high-impact Game 6 bench minutes to push the Thunder to the brink and then delivered a few crunch-time rebounds and a late 3 to push San Antonio over the top.