Was the San Antonio Spurs Game 4 Loss the Biggest Choke in Basketball History?

If you're still trying to process Game 4 of the NBA Finals nearly 24 hours later, we wouldn't blame you. It was the type of game that you'll remember where you were and who you were with while watching it for the rest of your life.

The Spurs looked poised to bring the series back to San Antonio, tied at two games each. Instead, the Knicks have a commanding 3-1 lead after coming back from a 29-point deficit on Wednesday night.

The comeback was the largest in the history of the NBA Finals, but was it the worst choke job in the history of basketball overall? This is a difficult question to answer; the NBA is a league that has existed for nearly 80 years.

Other memorable choke jobs include Golden State not being able to withhold a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2016 Finals and these same Spurs losing Game 6 and 7 of the 2013 Finals after Ray Allen made a historic three-pointer in the closing seconds of the series' penultimate contest.

San Antonio has been a champion five times in their history, but they're arguably on the end of the two most debilitating losses in the Finals, as well.

The series now returns to Texas with a circus of opinions parading around after this last game. We're all trying to grasp what we witnessed, but sometimes it's better to just sit back and watch without thinking too hard.

The Spurs have been a superior team to the Knicks for most of the series. They have had 10-plus-point leads in all four games. They have more star-level talent, too. When considering all of these factors, it's hard not to view this as perhaps the most disappointing result for one team in the Finals ever.

The youth of the Spurs means they have time to win championships in the future, but you can never get back what you lost. If San Antonio can't win three games in a row, it's going to sting for the rest of these players' careers.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 10:14 PM.