Connect with us

Sports

What I learned from Netflix’s ‘The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football’ documentary

Published

on

What I learned from Netflix’s ‘The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football’ documentary

From July-August last year, I was in Australia and New Zealand covering Spain’s Women’s World Cup win — and the scandal that followed when the country’s now-disgraced federation president Luis Rubiales gave striker Jenni Hermoso an unsolicited kiss.

From months before the tournament to returning to my home in Barcelona, the experience was surreal. A new Netflix documentary called #SeAcabó: Diario de las campeonas (It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football) made me relive the calm before the storm I experienced at La Roja’s base in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and the frustration that followed.

It’s worth remembering the turbulence of Spain’s World Cup preparations. When their squad was announced, it didn’t include some of the game’s best players. Fifteen internationals had declared themselves ineligible for mental health reasons until the federation (RFEF) made changes to the way it treated women’s football. Some players went to the World Cup after a nine-month absence from the national team.

There were many internal divisions: between ‘Las 15’, as the players who had sent emails declaring themselves ineligible became known in the media, and others who did not. And also between those who sent the email and decided to go to the tournament anyway, and those who did not.

You would think that climate would make it impossible to win anything but, strangely enough, the opposite happened. Spain made history by winning a knockout game in a major competition for the first time — and went all the way to the final, where they beat England 1-0.

Advertisement

But that was just the beginning. After full time, coach Jorge Vilda pointed to Rubiales in the stands, who responded by grabbing his crotch and pointing to Vilda, as if the success was theirs alone. That ignored the fact this was an exceptional generation and showed the players had been right to say that people did not believe in them. It was disrespectful to everyone, including England’s Lionesses.

Then came Rubiales’ kiss on Hermoso, his non-apology, the pressure on Hermoso to downplay the seriousness of the incident in a proposed video with him, and a speech from Rubiales in which he blamed “false feminism” for how he had been treated and repeated “I’m not going to resign” five times.

GO DEEPER

Spain won the Women’s World Cup – but Luis Rubiales has made me ashamed to be Spanish

Rubiales eventually resigned 21 days after the final following a provisional sanction from world governing body FIFA (it then banned him from football for three years). The legal case over the kiss continues, with Spanish prosecutors seeking a two-and-a-half year prison sentence for him, consisting of a one-year sentence for a charge of alleged sexual assault and a further one-and-a-half years for alleged coercion. The trial will start on February 3 next year.

Advertisement

Rubiales has always claimed Hermoso gave consent for him to kiss her. Hermoso has testified the kiss was not consensual and that attempts were made to force her into saying the opposite. Various Spanish outlets reported that Rubiales denied coercing Hermoso in his testimony before a judge in September last year.


Rubiales will stand trial in February next year (Alberto Gardin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The main focus of the documentary is on Alexia Putellas, Hermoso and Irene Paredes. Aitana Bonmati, Laia Codina, Teresa Abelleira, Ivana Andres, Sandra Panos, Olga Carmona and Lola Gallardo also feature.

It goes in chronological order from before those 15 emails were sent, explaining how, even after the 2022 European Championship in England, this talented generation felt as if they were being wasted and that Vilda was not giving them solutions when games were not going well.

As The Athletic has reported, and the players discuss in the documentary, Vilda asked them to leave the door to their hotel rooms open until midnight. He stopped them at points to ask them to show them the inside of their bags — to see if they had bought anything. They reproached him for what they perceived as lazy coaching and a lack of professionalism in training.

In a press conference in September 2022, after he had omitted the 15 players from his squad, Vilda said: “I challenge anyone to come out and say there hasn’t been respect or that there’s been a bad mark in my behaviour with them (the players) in all my career.”

Advertisement

The players say in the documentary that Paredes spoke to Vilda and Rubiales in August 2022 to explain the players’ feelings, and the full conversation was leaked a few days later in the press.

“I was shocked because that conversation was only between me and him (Rubiales),” Paredes explains in the documentary. “He went after us.”

In many stories at the time, Paredes was portrayed as the instigator of a campaign against Vilda. She gave a press conference on September 1 with Guijarro and Hermoso — alongside Vilda — in which they explained they only wanted basic improvements.

“Between games, we were travelling five hours by bus,” Paredes says in the documentary. “We didn’t have our own dressing room. We couldn’t use the gym, the only one we had, because it belonged to the boys, even if they weren’t there. It was a lot of things.”

The documentary details another national team training camp in September 2022. Following the first lunch, all the players were gathered by Vilda. Chairs were put in a circle and the women were encouraged to air their concerns, according to everyone interviewed in the documentary. The Barca contingent was the most vocal at that meeting, and this is where the division between players started.

Advertisement

Vilda after the World Cup final (Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)

Those who later declared themselves ineligible, such as Bonmati, felt everything had been said unanimously by the players — but were then disappointed by how others didn’t speak up or contradicted them in the meeting.

“We were asked if we wanted to continue defending that shirt,” says Abelleira. “You were in front of someone who was going to decide whether to call you up or not depending on what we said.”

“In that meeting, I had something inside, I was telling myself that I had to speak up,” Ivana Andres, who was Spain’s captain for the World Cup, says. “But there were very radical positions (being taken) that said they couldn’t take it any more and I thought it was a very high price to pay and I didn’t want to miss a World Cup. In the end, I finished that meeting and I didn’t speak.”

“I was in a very different position to the rest of my team-mates because I had been in the national team for less time,” Carmona adds.

“I feel bad that they all couldn’t say what they felt because we all had the same opinion,” Bonmati says.

Advertisement

“I understood that meeting (was used) as a way of dividing us further,” Paredes says.

It is the first time the players have publicly expressed the divisions that existed within the group. We see how temporary bridges were built between the players and the RFEF — which gave them the minimum guarantees so they would go to the World Cup.

But we also see how Panos was excluded by Vilda despite being the starting goalkeeper for the reigning Spanish and European champions, Barca. Panos says she sent an email asking Vilda to come back for the World Cup and never received a response. Vilda then told a press conference that she had not been called up for sporting reasons.

But what moved me the most — and what makes the documentary so important — is how the aftermath of the kiss on Hermoso is shown.

In a moment of maximum euphoria, at the peak of happiness in her sporting career, having achieved something she thought would never happen, Hermoso stood on the stage to be given her winner’s medal. Rubiales took full advantage of that moment of weakness to ruin it forever, kissing her on the lips.

Advertisement
go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Jenni Hermoso: Record goalscorer, serial swearer and icon of Spanish sport

In Hermoso’s head, something started to feel wrong. She was happy about the win, but something wasn’t right. Putellas and Paredes say Hermoso approached them to tell them about the kiss, looking for someone to tell her if it was right or wrong.

Hermoso is always the dressing-room joker, the one who is always in a good mood, the DJ, the one who makes her colleagues laugh. In the adrenaline of the moment, Putellas says she thought Hermoso was joking when she said Rubiales had kissed her.

The striker didn’t get the answers she was looking for at first and opted to say no more and keep celebrating — nobody wants to be the party pooper when you have won a World Cup. Then some of the players began to echo what had happened in a live broadcast on social media.

“Who kissed?,” goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez asked during the celebrations, as captured in a live stream from the time.

Advertisement

“Eh, but I didn’t like it,” Hermoso responded, still celebrating but making clear it wasn’t about her. “And what do I do? Look at me, just look at me (in that moment).”

During the celebrations, Rubiales went down to the dressing room. He came in, made jokes, said they all had a trip to Ibiza paid for when they returned from the tournament and that his wedding to Hermoso would take place there, as multiple videos from the players’ live streams showed. Thinking it was all a joke, the players celebrated. Rubiales went to grab Hermoso to recreate the image of a bride and groom at a wedding, while she made a face of clear discomfort.

The jokes continued until Paredes came down from the World Cup cloud and warned the others. “Girls, this is serious,” she said, as she details in the documentary.


Hermoso was awarded the Socrates Award at the recent Ballon d’Or ceremony for her humanitarian efforts (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The different recordings and testimonies show the different phases Hermoso went through.

According to the documentary, a pivotal moment for Hermoso came in Ibiza. While the team were enjoying a well-deserved holiday as world champions, Hermoso and the players who accompanied her describe how she went through hell, as she felt she was put under pressure by the RFEF to make a statement saying everything was fine.

Advertisement

As Hermoso, Bonmati and Andres describe, Rubiales tried to pressure her on the plane home from the World Cup, attempting to record a video first with her and then with one of the captains to say everything was fine. Bonmati says she was even asked to appear on TV to reduce tensions, but they all refused.

“Rubiales, Jenni and I had a chat,” Codina says. “He told us that he was meeting a woman and that this woman had spoken to him and told him that nothing was wrong with the kiss, that she should just make the video and that was it.”

The pressure increased. Hermoso received messages from then-national team director and former Newcastle United striker Albert Luque saying that Rubiales didn’t deserve that and that she should take a stand. Those are messages the player herself shows in the documentary, including ones sent to a friend of hers when Hermoso stopped responding.

Prosecutors are seeking a one-and-a-half-year sentence for Luque for the charge of alleged coercion. He denied coercing Hermoso when he testified as a defendant in the Rubiales case in October 2023, according to several Spanish media reports, but admitted to having sent her messages.

go-deeper

GO DEEPER

Rubiales: Prosecutors seeking two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for ex-RFEF president

Advertisement

“They told me that it wasn’t going to stay like this,” Hermoso explains to Putellas and Paredes. “Threats. There came a point when I was walking and I had to turn around and look. I was afraid.”

Hermoso says the RFEF’s marketing director, Ruben Rivera, told her to call the federation’s integrity department to say “nothing” had happened. She says: “I didn’t want to, I didn’t know what I was signing”. Prosecutors are also looking to charge Rivera for alleged coercion. In March, he told radio station Cadena SER, “I have never coerced anyone in my life”.

While Hermoso was in Ibiza, Putellas and the other players told her it was better not to think about it, telling her to disconnect and enjoy the holiday. Then, Hermoso started crying.

“When I found out about everything in Ibiza, I felt terrible,” Putellas says. “You were telling us without saying it directly: ‘Help me’. And we were like, forcing you to think that nothing was happening, to say: ‘Forget about it, you’ve had a great World Cup, celebrate’.”

Hermoso faced harassment on social media. When she left her house, photos of her were posted on the internet with comments asking how things could be so bad if she was going for an ice cream.

Advertisement

The most striking thing about the documentary is that many women, to a greater or lesser extent, may identify with what happened to Hermoso. That goes beyond football, her or Rubiales.

What Hermoso goes through, from the time the medal is hung around her neck until she makes a complaint, is perceived in the documentary as a typical pattern of a woman who has been harassed by her superior at work. You convince yourself that everything is fine and try to continue celebrating, then you break down and cry because you realise that the best day of your life has been tarnished forever.

But it also shows that there are many friends like Putellas and Paredes ready to help someone fight. To help them say “It’s over — se acabó”.

(Top photo: Putellas, Hermoso and Paredes lift the World Cup; Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Advertisement

Sports

2026 World Cup Odds: Spain Narrowly Favored Over France

Published

on

2026 World Cup Odds: Spain Narrowly Favored Over France

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

We’re approaching the biggest sporting event North America has ever hosted.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup takes place across the USA, Canada and Mexico in 13 days.

Bettors and fans already have their sights set on the global spectacle, which will kick off on June 11. The World Cup final will be held at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on July 19, 2026. 

After the World Cup groups were announced in December, Spain opened as the favorite at +450, followed by England (+550) and France (+750). 

Advertisement

Now, with less than two weeks to go, Spain has slightly drifted to +475, with both France and England making up ground on the oddsboard. 

Let’s dive into the odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of May 29.

This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.

2026 World Cup winner odds

Spain: +475 (bet $10 to win $57.5 total)
France: +500 (bet $10 to win $60 total)
England: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)
Brazil: +850 (bet $10 to win $95 total)
Argentina: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Portugal: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Germany: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Netherlands: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Norway: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total) 
Belgium: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Colombia: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Morocco: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total) 
Uruguay: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
United States: +6000 (bet $10 to win $610 total)
Switzerland: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total) 
Japan: +6500 (bet $10 to win $660 total) 
Mexico: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Croatia: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Ecuador: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total) 
Senegal: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total) 
Sweden: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total) 

HOST NATIONS

Advertisement

United States

The United States is led by Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Chris Richards, with several players competing in Europe’s top leagues. The U.S. has appeared in 11 previous World Cups, with its best finish coming in 1930 when the team reached the semifinals.

Canada

Canada’s key players include Alphonso Davies and Jonathan David, giving the squad top-tier pace and goal-scoring ability. Canada has made two previous World Cup appearances, and is still looking for its first win ever in the tournament. 

Mexico

Advertisement

Mexico’s top contributors include Raul Giménez and Edson Álvarez, forming a strong mix of attacking talent and midfield stability. Mexico has played in 17 previous World Cups and reached the quarterfinals twice, in 1970 and 1986.

UEFA TEAMS TO KNOW

Spain

Spain’s top talents include Pedri, Lamine Yamal and Rodri, forming a core that blends elite playmaking with scoring depth. Spain has appeared in 16 previous World Cups and won the tournament once, lifting the trophy in 2010. The team also won the 2024 Euros.

France

Advertisement

France enters with Kylian Mbappé as the star player, with the 26-year-old just five goals shy of passing Miroslav Klose (16) for the most career goals at the World Cup. France has made 16 previous World Cup appearances and won the title twice, in 1998 and 2018.

England

England’s key players include Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, forming one of the nation’s strongest generations in decades. England has reached 16 previous World Cups and won the trophy once, in 1966.

Germany

Germany features Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich as central figures in a talented squad. Germany has participated in 20 previous World Cups and won four titles, most recently in 2014.

Advertisement

Portugal

Portugal’s top group includes Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, with Cristiano Ronaldo still involved as the team’s all-time leading scorer and cap leader. Portugal has competed in eight previous World Cups and recorded its best finish in 2006, reaching the semifinals.

Netherlands

The Netherlands features top players such as Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Denzel Dumfries, forming a core built around elite defending and midfield control. Memphis Depay should also be on the team, the country’s all-time leading goalscorer. The Netherlands has appeared in 11 previous World Cups and finished as runner-up three times, in 1974, 1978 and 2010.

CONMEBOL TEAMS TO KNOW

Advertisement

Argentina

Argentina is anchored by Lionel Messi, with Julián Álvarez, Enzo Fernández and Lautaro Martínez— headlining one of the most talented rosters in the tournament. Argentina has played in 18 previous World Cups and won three, including the most recent tournament in 2022.

Brazil

Brazil’s roster is led by Vinícius Júnior, Raphinha and Marquinhos, giving the team elite attacking and defensive quality. Brazil has appeared in every World Cup and holds a record five titles, with its most recent one coming in 2002. 

Uruguay

Advertisement

Uruguay’s leading players include Federico Valverde, Darwin Núñez and Ronald Araújo, forming a core with elite midfield range and speed. Uruguay has appeared in 14 previous World Cups and won the tournament twice, in 1930 and 1950. 

Colombia

Colombia is headlined by Luis Díaz and James Rodríguez, with the former playing for Bayern Munich and the latter having a decorated World Cup résumé. Colombia has made six previous World Cupsand recorded its best finish in 2014, reaching the quarterfinals.

CAF TEAMS TO KNOW

Morocco

Advertisement

Morocco’s key contributors include Achraf Hakimi, Noussair Mazaroui and Brahm Díaz, each with major European club experience. Morocco has appeared in six previous World Cups and achieved its historic best finish in 2022, reaching the semifinals.

Senegal

Senegal’s top players include Sadio Mané, Kalidou Koulibaly and Idrissa Gueye, forming one of Africa’s most experienced cores. Senegal has appeared in three World Cups and reached its best finish in 2002, advancing to the quarterfinals.

Ghana

Ghana is led by Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo and Inaki Williams, giving the squad strong playmaking and midfield presence. Ghana has competed in four previous World Cups and reached its best result in 2010, making the quarterfinals.

Advertisement

AFC TEAMS TO KNOW

South Korea

South Korea is headlined by Son Heung-min, supported by key players such as Kim Min-jae and Lee Kang-in. South Korea has played in 11 previous World Cups and reached its best finish in 2002, advancing to the semifinals as co-host.

Japan

Japan features Takefusa Kubo and Kaoru Mitoma as its leading players, blending top European experience with emerging talent. Japan has appeared in seven previous World Cups and reached the Round of 16 four times, its best result to date.

Advertisement

Australia

Australia’s top players include Jackson Irvine and keeper Mathew Ryan as its most experienced members. Australia has competed in six previous World Cups and reached the round of 16 twice, in 2006 and 2022.

OFC TEAMS TO KNOW

New Zealand

New Zealand is led by all-time leading scorer Chris Wood, with 45 international goals to his name. New Zealand has appeared in two previous World Cups (1982, 2010), and did not advance from the group stage in either appearance. 

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Sports

A new board game mocks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for ‘foul baiting.’ He wants it destroyed

Published

on

A new board game mocks Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for ‘foul baiting.’ He wants it destroyed

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander apparently isn’t amused by a new board game that pokes fun at the Oklahoma City Thunder star’s reputation for garnering foul calls at the hint of contact by an opposing player.

Last week, a lawyer representing the two-time reigning NBA MVP sent a cease-and-desist letter to sports prediction market and fantasy sports company Underdog that includes a demand for the destruction of all copies of the cheeky and extremely limited-edition game Unethical Hoops.

Done in the style of the children’s classic Operation, Unethical Hoops requires players to use tweezers to pull objects from tiny holes, with the slightest touch of a metal border setting off a buzzer indicating failure.

Instead of pretending to be doctors attempting to remove body parts from a patient, however, Unethical Hoops players act as members of an opposing basketball team trying to take the ball from a cartoon character who very much resembles Gilgeous-Alexander.

In this game, the buzzer represents the whistle of a foul-calling referee.

Advertisement

“Shai has made hoops all about foul baiting and now you’re stuck guarding him in Underdog’s new board game,” a description reads on the game’s website. “Don’t get baited. Steal the ball without getting whistled.”

In a letter dated May 22, attorney Eric Fishman of ArentFox Schiff LLP demanded that Underdog “immediately and permanently cease and desist from any and all use of Mr. Gilgeous-Alexander’s NIL in any and all media, including but not limited to your website (including the Unethical Hoops Website)… and any physical goods including but not limited to the board game advertised on the Unethical Hoops Website.”

The notice also calls for Underdog to “immediately destroy all physical goods or advertisements that use Mr. Gilgeous-Alexander’s NIL, including but not limited to the board game advertised on the Unethical Hoops Website,” as well as a promise never to use the star player’s name, image or likeness without his permission.

Fishman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Times.

According to the Unethical Hoops website, which remains active more than a week after the date on the cease-and-desist order, only 100 copies of the game were made, to be given away to Underdog users. The giveaway ended as scheduled on Friday.

Advertisement

Underdog declined to comment on the matter other than to point out that the company has pulled comical stunts at the expense of members of the sports world.

“We’ve poked fun at Knicks and Lakers fans, the Red Sox owners, the Mets and more,” a spokesperson said via email. “We like to have some fun with whatever is in the sports fan zeitgeist.”

Gilgeous-Alexander is a four-time All-Star who led the league in scoring last season (2,484 points) and was second in scoring this season (2,117). He led the Thunder to their first NBA title last year and has them back in the Western Conference finals this year (the decisive Game 7 against the San Antonio Spurs is Saturday in Oklahoma City).

While one of the NBA’s biggest stars, Gilgeous-Alexander is often criticized for the number of favorable foul calls he receives — he has ranked second or third in the league for number of free throw attempts per game in each of the last four seasons and is currently second among all players in the 2026 playoffs with 9.8 a game — and the lengths he appears to go to in order to receive them.

After Game 2 against the Spurs, one NBA fan account on X wrote, “Shai flopped on every single shot attempt” and posted a video that showed seven such examples (Gilgeous-Alexander actually attempted 24 shots that night). The post has been viewed 22.7 million times.

Advertisement

Earlier this week, prior to Game 6 of the conference finals, another fan account on X posted a video “ranking all 44 times SGA fell on the floor while shooting during the 2026 playoffs from least to most egregious.” That post has been viewed 1.3 million times.

As the cartoon likeness of Gilgeous-Alexander states in the Unethical Hoops ad, “so much as breathe on me, I’m getting the call.”

The real-life SGA was asked during a TV interview after Game 3 in San Antonio about the “flopper!” chants that rained down on him at Frost Bank Center.

“It’s part of the game,” he said. “It’s nothing. I’ve been dealing with it for a long time. I don’t really hear it. I’m focused on what’s going on on the court.”

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Sports

Spurs blow out Thunder, force Game 7 as Victor Wembanyama leads the way with 28-point double-double

Published

on

Spurs blow out Thunder, force Game 7 as Victor Wembanyama leads the way with 28-point double-double

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

The Western Conference Finals will come down to a Game 7 after the San Antonio Spurs routed the Oklahoma City Thunder, 118-91, in Game 6 on Thursday night.

Advertisement

Game 7 heads back to Oklahoma City, where the winner will face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals after New York swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

With their backs against the wall, the Spurs did what was necessary on their home court and then some. And it was their phenom, Victor Wembanyama, leading the way.

Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs reacts during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Six of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on May 28, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The 7-foot-4 big man led the Spurs with 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting, including four three-pointers made, while notching a double-double with 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks.

Advertisement

This was the performance head coach Mitch Johnson and the rest of the team needed from Wembanyama, and he was up for the challenge as the Thunder were looking to make it back-to-back NBA Finals appearances.

Instead, the Thunder’s three-point shooting woes returned in San Antonio, much like they did in Game 4 of this series. They took a whopping 40 threes, but only cashed in 10 of them, finishing 25% from beyond the arc on the night.

SPURS SNAP THUNDER’S PLAYOFF WIN STREAK BEHIND VICTORY WEMBANYAMA’S INCREDIBLE GAME 1 PERFORMANCE

As a team, the Thunder shot just 37%, and MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is among the culprits for the poor shooting night. He had just 15 points, going 6-of-18 from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point land. Lu Dort was also ice cold from three, going just 1-of-9 and 2-of-11 for the game.

Meanwhile, San Antonio was getting more than just “Wemby” contributions, especially from rookie Dylan Harper, who played a vital role in the blowout off the bench.

Advertisement

Dylan Harper of the San Antonio Spurs looks on during the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on May 28, 2026. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Harper was quite efficient when he had the ball in his hands, going 6-of-9 from the field for 18 points, while tallying six rebounds and four assists in his pivotal 22 minutes off the pine.

And in the starting five, Stephon Castle was getting to the rim like he’s supposed to, scoring 17 points while dishing out nine assists for the Spurs. Devin Vassell also hit four of his seven three-point shots for 12 points, while Julian Champagnie poured in 10 more with six rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks on the other end of the hardwood.

The Spurs saw 12 different players contribute on the scoreboard in this contest, some of whom made their way into the game when the Thunder conceded and already started to focus on Game 7. And that swing came in the third quarter, when the Spurs outscored the Thunder, 32-13, and started to run away with this must-win game for their franchise.

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama shoots against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half of Game 6 in the Western Conference finals NBA playoffs in San Antonio on May 28, 2026. (David J. Phillip/AP)

Advertisement

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Now, folks, it all comes down to the ever-suspenseful Game 7, where the Thunder will hope one last home game will give them the juice to push their way into the Finals.

But the Spurs are hoping to recreate 1999 by earning a matchup with the Knicks in the NBA Finals.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Advertisement

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending