As each individual player was introduced during the starting lineup ahead of Game 4 of the NBA Finals, one name drew more noise from the Madison Square Garden crowd than any other.
The loudest reaction wasn’t the boisterous cheering for any of the Knicks stars; it was the torrential rain of boos aimed at Spurs center Victor Wembanyama.
In Game 3, Wembanyama finally made his tremendous impact felt on this series, but not without drawing the ire of the New York faithful in the process.
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For many fans, they’ll remember that game not for Wembanyama’s efforts to lead the Spurs to victory – scoring 32 points, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing six assists, and dominating defensively with three blocks and two steals – but for his physical altercation with Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson during the first quarter.
Wembanyama was not assessed with a foul on the play, clearly a missed call by the officials. And the NBA decided not to give the Spurs center a flagrant foul upon review of the play on Tuesday.
Asked for his thoughts about the league not handing Wembanyama a retroactive Flagrant-1 foul, Knicks head coach Mike Brown said on Wednesday that the “league is gonna do what they’re gonna do” and that “you gotta live with it.”
“They ain’t gonna listen to me, they ain’t gonna listen to nobody else,” Brown said, adding that he gave his thoughts on the officiating in Game 3 after the game, and, “you just hope at the end of the day, everything is consistent on both ends throughout the whole game, that’s it.
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“It is what it is.”
Brown said that he spoke with his team about those situations and, during the game, to the referees that, “Stuff like that can cause a fight.”
“Obviously, they didn’t see it,” he said, adding later, “If it happens in the future, fingers crossed the officials see it and call it, but again, it’s out of my control. The officials are human; they’re gonna miss stuff. You hope that they miss stuff for both teams, but they’re gonna miss stuff.”
Following the Spurs’ 115-111 victory to gain a toehold in the series, Brunson was short with his answer on the incident. “Whatever you saw is what you saw,” the diminutive point guard, who scored 32 points of his own, said.
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Reserve guard Jose Alvardo issued his own warning.
“I think that’s not basketball,” Alvarado said Tuesday. “That’s something that they gotta look at. But he got away with one. That’ll be the last one.”
For his part, Wembanyama clearly has no qualms about becoming public enemy number one in New York City. He smiled as he answered questions about his newfound status as the Knicks’ newest villain, but also paid homage to an unforgettable fellow foe from recent playoff history, chuckling as he remarked that he is “nowhere near Trae Young‘s level.”
Ultimately, the outcome of this series will determine where the lanky French 22-year-old lands in the pantheon of all-time Knicks villains.
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