Iman Shumpert admits that Victor Wembanyama has rightfully earned the NBA villain tag

After reaching the NBA Finals in their first run as a core group, the San Antonio Spurs have become one of the top teams. Naturally, more eyes are on them, and unfortunately for them, they have become villains in the eyes of many NBA fans.

As the face of the franchise, Victor Wembanyama himself has been labelled a villain by a lot of people. Some of it is earned with how he retaliates against physicality, but some of it is also because of how good and imposing he really is as a giant.

Iman Shumpert believes Victor Wembanyama has earned his villain reputation

Being an NBA villain is not inherently a bad thing because it just means a player is doing something right. Of course, the elbows and the shoves are not a good look, but Wembanyama can torment teams just because of how he dominates games.

Former champion Iman Shumpert believes that Wembanyama being such a dominant player while remaining an authentic personality has made him such a huge NBA villain.

MORE: Matt Barnes comes to Victor Wembanyama's defense amid "dirty" talk

Shumpert believes that Wembanyama is good for the league because he is such an imposing figure. People will hate him from time to time, but it seems the Frenchman does not care about that.

"We have to realize that you have to be good enough for me to hate you. You know how many players people don't like, but people don't care? You got to worry about Wemby; he messes up a lot of people's sleep," Shumpert said on Run It Back about Wembanyama's new status as a villain.

As his career progresses, Wembanyama will continue to learn and show that he is a mega star. The NBA Finals loss to the New York Knicks was a heartbreaking one for him and the Spurs, but it also serves as a massive lesson.

More NBA news:

• Tracy McGrady sees Jalen Brunson on the same level as Kobe Bryant in terms of clutch play
• Isiah Thomas sees Jalen Brunson's Finals MVP as proof that smaller guards can still stand out
• Jeff Teague thinks Dylan Harper's postseason run put him above Cooper Flagg
• Draymond Green sees the San Antonio Spurs as sore losers
• Karl-Anthony thinks Victor Wembanyama is the future of the league