Victor Wembanyama’s first trip to the NBA Finals didn’t go according to plan, as the New York Knicks beat his San Antonio Spurs in five games. Following the Spurs’ 94-90 Game 5 loss, Wembanyama walked off the court without shaking hands with Knicks players, which didn’t go down too well in some corners of the basketball world.
Wembanyama was termed a sore loser for not showing any respect in that moment, and Knicks guard Jose Alvarado was asked about his actions during an appearance on Breakfast Club.
“I mean, I got mixed emotions, you know?” Alvarado said. “I mean, I’m a competitor, too. But also, I stare my enemies down. I look forward to them. I shake their hand. Obviously, it’s a game. You don’t like the moment you lost probably the biggest game of your career, but you going to have more moments. And I feel like the way he did it was a little too crazy for me, ’cause I loved how he compete during the game.
“Obviously, people didn’t like how he was being aggressive, but bro, we fighting for something,” Alvarado added. “Between the lines. I feel like anything is cool. Outside the lines, shake your hand. Shake hands and call it what it is.”
That is ideally the way it should be. Wembanyama wasn’t the only Spur who didn’t shake hands, as almost the entire team didn’t. Luke Kornet and Harrison Barnes, two veterans, appeared to be the only ones who did. The youngsters didn’t take the loss all too well, which was somewhat to be expected. They’re not mature enough.
While there was a lot of criticism, there were also many who didn’t see anything wrong. Former Spur Robert Horry defended the players for not shaking hands. Horry claimed this wasn’t a thing back in his day and that he never shook hands after losing. This sure has split opinion.
The lack of a handshake wasn’t the only reason Knicks fans were unhappy with Wembanyama. He had tossed Alvarado in Game 2 and then shoved Jalen Brunson in Game 3.
While Alvarado didn’t seem to mind what happened in Game 2, he sure wasn’t pleased about the shove on Brunson. He was asked here why none of the Knicks players went after Wembanyama for that in that game.
“I ain’t going to lie, we didn’t even see it, like if you really ask anybody on the bench,” Alvarado said. “Like JB Jalen [Brunson] can’t do nothing. Like not saying that he can’t do nothing, or he didn’t want to do nothing, we need him to stay in the game. Like it’s a basketball thing. Like it’s guys like me. Me, [Mitchell Robinson], and Jordan Clarkson, or Deuce [McBride], we got to do something.
“And we didn’t see it at the moment,” Alvarado continued. “I mean, if I would have saw it, I think I would have got, not necessarily kicked out, but it would have been like, ‘Oh, let’s go review it.’ ‘Cause that was a little out of pocket.”
The officials didn’t even call a foul on that play, which was quite surprising. The NBA later admitted Wembanyama should have been called for a foul, but didn’t upgrade it to a flagrant, which was quite interesting.
Knicks players would get “revenge” in Game 4. Mitchell Robinson elbowed Wembanyama during the game, while Alvarado tackled him and then stepped over him.
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For all the revenge the Knicks were getting there, it looked like Wembanyama was going to get the last laugh with the win. The Spurs led by as many as 29 points, but then collapsed spectacularly. The Knicks won 107-106, and the series was all but over after that.
Wembanyama finished the Finals with averages of 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 steals, and 3.6 blocks per game. The Frenchman did play well for long stretches, but made one too many mistakes in the clutch. Wembanyama will be back on this stage at some point in the future, and expect him to fare better then.
