The NBA Finals will be a whole new world for most Knicks, Spurs players

For a few hours on Tuesday, the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks held practices on a floor that had the NBA Finals logo painted at midcourt. They did interviews with the logo as a backdrop. They saw finals mentions basically everywhere they looked.

It might have seemed normal. It wasn't.

This stage — the NBA Finals — is new to just about everyone on the Spurs and Knicks rosters, meaning very few players on either side can have any real idea of how the moment will seem on Wednesday night when the 80th title series in league history gets underway in San Antonio.

They have two big things in common: It's going to be new, and it took them all forever to get here.

"Falling in love with basketball happened really early on in my life," San Antonio star Victor Wembanyama said. "I mean, I have pictures of myself with a basketball at an age where I was not even old enough to have memories."

More memories will be made over the next four to seven games, without question. The Spurs are seeking their sixth title and first since 2014; the Knicks are seeking their third title and first since 1973.

It's a matchup that could have been dreamed up in board rooms: New York is the capital of the world, the Knicks are an iconic brand, the Spurs are a proven championship franchise and their best player happens to be a 7-foot-4 Frenchman who already has an enormous global following.

"The best player in the world," Spurs guard Stephon Castle said of Wembanyama.

Knicks guard Jalen Brunson — the MVP of the Eastern Conference finals — had nothing but the highest of praise to offer to Wembanyama, the MVP of the Western Conference finals.

"Watching him as a player, it's pretty unbelievable," Brunson said Tuesday. "The things he's able to do on