Skip Bayless pushed back hard on Victor Wembanyama after the San Antonio Spurs star rejected the idea that their Western Conference Finals win over the Oklahoma City Thunder came by random chance.
Wembanyama's point was easy to understand from the Spurs' side. San Antonio had just survived a seven-game series against the defending champions.
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Bayless still found the opening he wanted.
His argument focused less on the Spurs' talent and more on the Thunder injuries that changed the shape of the series.
Bayless reacted to Wembanyama's ABC comment by arguing that the Spurs benefited from Oklahoma City Thunder injuries at the worst possible time.
"Wemby just said on ABC that you can't win a 7-game series vs the defending champs by random chance.
WRONG," Bayless tweeted.
He added, "Spurs won because of the random injuries suffered by Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell, OKC's 2nd and 3rd best players."
Bayless' take was harsh, but it touched the central tension in the debate.
Wembanyama can fairly say the Spurs earned a seven-game series win, while Bayless can also point to the Thunder losing major contributors as a factor that cannot be ignored.
The sharpness of the post came from the way Bayless framed the injuries as the story rather than a subplot.
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He was not denying Wembanyama's brilliance, he was questioning whether San Antonio's breakthrough should be separated from Oklahoma City's bad luck.
