Ages ago, on April 20, we thought Atlanta Hawks veteran guard CJ McCollum had replaced Trae Young as the New York Knicks‘ nemesis.
McCollum had exploded for 32 points to rally the Hawks past the Knicks and even their first-round NBA playoff series at 1-1, which generated an obscene chant from the Madison Square Garden crowd. After the game, McCollum plainly stated, “I ain’t no villain.”
It harkened back to when former Hawks point guard Trae Young, now in Washington, was the main character in Atlanta ousting New York from the playoffs in 2021. The Wizards traded McCollum to Atlanta in exchange for young, so the villain card transfer was easy enough.
But we were premature.
It’s Victor Wembanyama.
The Knicks dispatched of the Hawks with ease and hadn’t lost since April 23 when San Antonio Spurs supernova Victor Wembanyama led the charge in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals at MSG on Monday night.
The Spurs entered Monday shouldering a 2-0 series deficit, and Knicks fans hadn’t seen their team play a Finals game at MSG since 1999. Wembanyama played spoiler, putting up 32 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three blocks, and two steals in the Spurs’ 115-111 win.
“I guess,” Wembayama said when asked if he’s “New York’s newest villain,” and if he considers that a compliment. “I’m nowhere near Trae Young level, though.”
Throughout Game 3, MSG broke out in the same obscene chant previously directed toward McCollum - just replace McCollum’s name with Wemby’s - and Wembanyama raised eyebrows for tossing Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson aside like a rag doll. To make matters more villainous, Wembanyama laughed at Brunson afterward.
Wembanyama was not called for a foul on the play, though the NBA could still retroactively assess him a flagrant foul, per Marc Stein.
Wembanyama is right that he’s nowhere near Trae Young’s level. He’s higher. In a different stratosphere. Due respect to Young, he was never in the conversation for the best player alive or the face of the NBA. Wembanyama, at just 22 years old and in his first playoff run, is atop the leaderboard in both discussions
And if he and the Spurs can pull off this comeback to deny the Knicks their first championship since 1973 - just as the Tim Duncan-led Spurs did to the Knicks in the 1999 NBA Finals - then Wembanyama’s villain status will loom over New York for the entirety of what promises to be an epic career.
The Knicks will welcome the Spurs back to the Garden for Game 4 on Wednesday night.
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