Victor Wembanyama is ready to take over, but will the league be a willing participant?

NEW YORK — It was the perfect backdrop for the New York Knicks, the king-in-waiting of the league and the NBA itself.

And Christmas Day, of course.

While the NFL continues to claim territory usually respected and reserved for the NBA, it has the added benefit of making every regular season game count. The advantage that the NBA has is a regular-season game feel like anything at the moment, even if that means less in the grand 82-game schedule.

But for two hours, it can feel like the NBA Finals if the investment is there, especially with Madison Square Garden in the background and desperate Knicks fans.

Victor Wembanyama was majestic and Spurs are getting closer to being a team befitting his talent and deserving of consistent attention on the national stage. They looked fun, took advantage of athleticism and came out on the break many times to catch the Knicks off-guard.

“Fun” has never been high on the list of adjectives in their successful eras, but hopefully that’s changing.

“I thought their approach was great,” said Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson, in the position where Gregg Popovich was recovering from a stroke in November. “I didn’t feel like it was going to be too big a moment. I thought the energy and the excitement was in a positive way. I thought they felt like they were right where they needed to be. And I thought they played like that. “

Wembanyama was not in awe of the garden; indeed, he seemed to take the chance – all that was missing was a last-second chance and the ball was in his hands with a chance to extend the afternoon by another five minutes.

Although he and his teammates couldn’t grab a rebound on the final possession as they succumbed to the Knicks’ determination and grit in a 117-114 loss, Wembanyama and the Spurs acquitted themselves on Christmas Day.

If Wembanyama’s 3-pointer hadn’t been canceled midway through the fourth by an off-ball foul, the future would have been the present — the best kind for Adam Silver — as he had 42 points, 18 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and many more modified shot attempts.

The 42 was just shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s Christmas debut record of 45, but no record needs to be set to commemorate the occasion.

He is ready to be showcased, the heir to everything the Greybeards still hold. Wembanyama is ready to tear it away from the stately torchbearers: LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.

“Tonight just proved that we’re not ready yet,” Wembanyama said. “I’m sure we’ll see it work and we’ll get addicted to things. It’s high stakes, but it’s also high reward.”

The Spurs aren’t ready, but he is. And the Spurs are .500, nipping at the heels of the aging Lakers and Warriors — meaning more room to grow this season.

And although he is little more than a week away from being legally able to drink, Wembanyama speaks with a maturity and confidence, fully aware of the moment and fully embracing an opportunity to announce his candidacy to the world.

He threw shots so devastating it looked like goaltending, only to be reversed on reviews. There were long-limbed offensive rebounds and follow-up dunks over play defenders who couldn’t help but be helpless against the 7-foot-4 wonder.

“It’s a game of anticipation, trying to read the opponent,” Wembanyama said. “It’s a very interesting part of the game. I get a lot of chances to block guys, but those guys don’t get a lot of chances to make layups against me.”

The temptation is to fantasize that Wembanyama is somewhere else, in a bigger market, where a Christmas Day window display is one of many for the casual fan, to see him on billboards with arms outstretched for him to have his Tiger Wood’s “Hello World” moment.

But there’s nothing wrong with Wembanyama being in San Antonio, or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander being in Oklahoma City, or the up-and-coming Cooper Flagg ending up in Salt Lake City — young superstars (or presumptive superstars in Flagg’s case) are on small markets.

But the old and tired excuse of well-run franchises not allowing the public to know their transcendent stars should no longer be allowed by the league. There are arguments that small markets complain about the benefits of Los Angeles’s and New York’s, but those same franchises benefit from the revenue increases that the marquee franchises provide, and because of this two-pronged system of salaries, the weight will be as even financially as each franchise wants it.

So that said, these franchises can’t play both sides of this. They must participate in the growth of this league, or at least in retaining the property it has in the American lexicon. The NBA cannot afford to have franchisees sitting on the sidelines, almost resentful of the league office in some circles, while they line their pockets.

There are a lot of payouts and not enough deposits for the league’s present and future, and fans won’t invest in new stars unless they feel they know them in some way. Acting like gamers have state secrets and aren’t in the entertainment business can no longer be considered “cute”.

You can’t sell mystery in an 82-game season, not in a widespread way when many fans are already investing hopes in their own home markets. Wembanyama is seasoned enough, with all his experience playing in his native France before now, to handle the attention that has engulfed many before him.

Zion Williamson and his body weren’t ready to be the next big thing. Yes Morant is still rebuilding his reputation after his missteps a few years ago. That leaves Anthony Edwards as an authentic face – and Wembanyama.

The public should get to know Wembanyama and the NBA should help and support in that journey – because it is crucial to figuring out the future of the league.

It’s no secret that one of the reasons for the Golden State Warriors’ popularity was not only their excellence on the floor—hint to the NBA: America loves basketball dynasties, not parity—but there was a sense of closeness to Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and for a time, Kevin Durant.

We didn’t see the players naked, but as three-dimensional characters with real stories, real quirks and personality—not carefully curated Instagram posts that show a lot but say nothing. The gift of the NBA is that the players don’t have helmets and you see them everywhere because it’s an 82-game story waiting to unfold.

But the players need to be characters with character, not afraid to be themselves and not cookie-cutter images that they believe corporate America wants – because as we see, that’s not the case.

It’s not just the game that needs to be scrutinized, as there are so many extraordinary and versatile athletes who do unimaginable things on a nightly basis, including Wembanyama, who easily tallied 12 blocks and 12 3-pointers in a two-game span, who he did against New York and Philadelphia.

Too many 3-pointers are taken, too much creativity is consumed by the analyst crowd that has too many seats at the table. But beyond that, there are other factors that demand attention – or at least recognition from all observers.

Commissioner Adam Silver is in an unenviable place. Franchise owners paid a fortune as more teams appeared to change hands than at any concentrated point in the league’s history. Not only do the owners want to make money and have it guaranteed, but they also want an NFL-like system where they have a chance to win every year.

Having that as a goal, coupled with maintaining the attention span of itchy viewers, are in conflict with each other.

Silver works for the owners, but honestly he should think of himself as working for the public because their support and interest makes the game grow – otherwise their disinterest will put Silver in the crosshairs.

Since 2010, 16 teams have changed hands. That’s more than half of the league. Although the late David Stern was still in power at the time, everyone knew that Silver’s time was coming, and subsequent CBAs were led by Silver.

It does not seem possible to achieve all goals, financial and symbolic, but getting close to it requires a deft touch and agreement from all parties for the greater good.

The players certainly haven’t done their part, as everything is marked by the feeling of “you can’t make me”, without thinking about how the game grew to the place where exorbitant salaries are the norm and not reserved for the special few.

The players don’t even try in the All-Star Game, and pretend we don’t have decades of information showing players exceeding very low expectations from the league’s marquee weekend.

It’s become unbalanced, which is why there’s so much focus on ratings and TV sweepstakes and “who’s next?” discussions.

What a brilliant afternoon, though, America got to see the long, smiling future – and it’s up to the NBA to build on Wembanyama’s momentum.

The future depends on it.