Even the NBA’s best defense wasn’t equipped to slow down Victor Wembanyama. The Oklahoma City Thunder suffered a rare 111-109 loss to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2025 NBA Cup semifinals.

The Thunder had their franchise-best 16-game win streak snapped. After missing the last 12 games with a calf strain, Wembanyama made the most of his limited action with a plus-21 in 21 minutes off the bench.

As the reigning NBA champion, expect the Thunder to receive the best shots from their opponents. The rest of the league has their matchups against OKC circled on their calendar as they hope to prevent a historic 70-win regular season.

The NBA Cup extravaganza nature boosted the Thunder and Spurs under a national spotlight. With that comes questions about whether both of these teams could eventually reignite a rivalry. If it were up to Wembanyama, that’s a loud yes.

Wembanyama flexed his muscles at Cason Wallace after he was forced to foul him to prevent a layup. After scoring an unreal jumper despite Alex Caruso being all over him, he yelled that he was too small. When Chet Holmgren missed an important free throw, he grabbed the miss and squeezed it in celebration.

Wembanyama had several not-so-subtle shots at the Thunder. Specifically, toward Holmgren. Both players have been linked for years. They were back-to-back top-two picks in their respective drafts as seven-foot dragons. Here’s all he had to say about OKC at the NBA Cup:

Downplays Holmgren

In a sit-down interview with Amazon Prime’s Taylor Rooks, Wembanyama extinguished the flames that their NBA Cup semifinals game was about himself and Holmgren. With a smug smile, he implied that Gilgeous-Alexander makes his life easy and that he isn’t worried about his self-creation ability.

“The reigning MVP is on that court, so he’s our main focus,” Wembanyama said. “Anybody is hard to guard when you have to help on the MVP.”

Wemby on matchup with Chet Holmgren:

“The reigning MVP is on that court, so he’s our main focus. Anybody is hard to guard when you have to help on the MVP.” pic.twitter.com/X2puqeVeq4

— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) December 14, 2025Nowitzki reacts

Afterward, Dirk Nowitzki was part of Amazon’s NBA crew to react to the segment. While some former players loved the attitude, the former MVP winner said he didn’t like how much he downplayed Holmgren as one of the league’s best players and an eventual one-time All-Star.

I didn’t love his answer about Chet. I wish he would’ve given him a little credit,” Nowitizki said. “You can say, ‘Hey, they have the MVP. Shai is incredible. But Chet has gotten better year to year. He’s a champ and I want to play hard against him.’ I didn’t love that answer. To me, it’s too swaggy, too dismissive of Chet.”

Dirk did not like Wemby answer on Chet

“I wish he would’ve gave him a little credit. I didn’t love that answer. To me it was too swaggy, too dismissive” pic.twitter.com/kC0pOxIRSg

— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 14, 2025Ethical basketball discourse

The Thunder have dominated the NBA for the last two seasons. They brought home the Larry O’Brien trophy last year and could do the same this year. That type of historic success creates haters. The narratives have spiraled out of control with OKC. One of the biggest is the silly ‘ethical basketball’ discourse all over social media. Specifically with Gilgeous-Alexander.

Wembanyama added fuel to the fire. When asked about the Spurs surviving his month-long absence, he said he was excited to rejoin a group that has found its flow. De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle led San Antonio with stellar backcourt production.

“It’s just incredible. I keep asking these guys for the last 12 games, just get better, do some beautiful things. And I just wanted to be a part of it. I’m glad that we can still do it when I’m here, I’m happy with that, of course,” Wembanyama said. “But I’m just glad to be a part of something that’s growing to be so beautiful. So pure and ethical basketball, you know.”

Some are built for big moments

This might be a little bit of a reach, but it’s tough to rule it out. Wembanyama has a history of passive-aggressive comments. After the Spurs survived a close win over the Thunder, he said that some players are built for the high-pressure moments while others aren’t. He believes San Antonio is — never mind the fact he’s never played in the playoffs.

“Oh, yeah, this is not a regular game, this is not a typical regular-season game. Because we know that if we lose we’re out. Some people are built for these moments, some aren’t,” Wembanyama said. “But we definitely are, and it shows, because it’s not against anybody that we won that game. So it’s just, again, I feel lucky, I’m glad we have this group because everybody buys into this and everybody is built for these moments.”

Considering Holmgren split a pair of critical free-throw attempts down the stretch, this could be interpreted as another shot at him. But hopefully not. After all, he did record an NBA record five blocks in their Game 7 win over the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals.