NEW YORK — Viral footage of New York Knicks fans verbally and physically assaulting San Antonio Spurs fans, including at least one wearing a Victor Wembanyama jersey, seemed to have escaped the San Antonio star’s attention after Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
But on Tuesday, Wembanyama called out fans for attacking one another.
“I didn’t know. … We can’t forget it’s a game,” Wembanyama said. “We’re just playing a game out there. I am all for passion, but to the respect of each other. It’s unacceptable.”
The first finals game at Madison Square Garden in 27 years was sure to bring its own level of chaos. Toss in President Donald J. Trump’s attendance, which forced thousands of fans away from the Garden because of a relocated outdoor watch party, and the fact the Knicks lost 115-111, snapping a 13-game winning streak, and the scene turned violent as Monday became Tuesday.
The MSG watch party was relocated to Bryant Park, several blocks away. Videos circulating online appeared to show NYPD officers deploying pepper spray to quell the violence, a Wembanyama jersey being ripped apart by a group of Knicks fans, a fan in a Spurs jersey leaving the scene with a bloodied face, and other fans in Spurs jerseys running through the streets as objects and obscenities were hurled at them. There were more than 20 arrests related to fan interactions.
“The game is built off of respect and passion,” New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns said. “We want everyone to respect each other. We want everyone to enjoy basketball at its purest state. It’s the NBA Finals. There’s no better place to watch basketball. Leave the physicality to everyone on the court.”
Like Wembanyama, Knicks guard and New York native Jose Alvarado hadn’t seen the violent footage. “I don’t think it should ever get to a point of people putting their hands (on each other),” Alvarado said. “Let’s not change our energy, Knicks fans. We love who we are, but like I said, hands on each other is (bad).”
Added Spurs guard Julian Champagnie, a native New Yorker: “It’s just not necessary. No one should be coming to the game and getting assaulted like that. It’s not what we’re promoting. It’s not what we’re playing for.”
Even one of the Knicks’ celebrity fans felt compelled to weigh in.
“Being a Knick fan doesn’t mean being disrespectful to Spurs fans in any way,” Ben Stiller wrote on X. “We get caught up during the games but we gotta show respect to our fellow humans.”
The Knicks lead the series 2-1, but there will obviously be no clinching game Wednesday at the Garden. Trump is not expected to attend — the Secret Service’s security perimeter from Game 3 was gone Tuesday — and the earliest New York could close out this series would be Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio.
On the court, that’s a long way off (the home team has yet to win a game in this series). If there is a Game 6 in New York on June 16, it would coincide with a FIFA World Cup soccer match at the Meadowlands between France and Senegal, which would make for another, could we say, unique set of circumstances surrounding an otherwise huge night for the Knicks at the Garden.
“Ideally, we don’t go past five games,” Knicks forward Josh Hart said. “Our thought process is we want to win every single game, not because we don’t want to clash with France and Senegal playing in the World Cup. We want to win the next game, and that mentality doesn’t change, no matter who we play, no matter what goes on around us, no matter what goes on in the city. As competitors, we want to win the next game.
“I’m sure they’re thinking the same thing — they want to win the next game.”
New York fans were chanting an obscenity and attaching it to Wembanyama’s last name inside the Garden on Monday. That sort of taunt, though perhaps crude, is fair game, and the 22-year-old French star seemed to accept that, saying he wasn’t as big a villain at MSG as Trae Young.
Temperatures might remain high in the arena Wednesday, especially if Wemby stars again (he had 32 points in Game 3) and the Spurs even the series. But the players don’t want fans rooting for either team to get hurt because of it.
“Safety for everyone involved is the most important thing, right? Nobody’s trying to have any type of altercation or any type of serious injury outside of the floor,” San Antonio’s Harrison Barnes said. “For the respect of the game, for the respect of why we’re all here — to witness great basketball — I don’t think fans attending games, fans going to watch parties or anything like that, should have to fear for their safety.”
— Sam Amick contributed to this story.