Charles Barkley believes that the Knicks must retaliate against Victor Wembanyama as a way to respond to the Jalen Brunson incident in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
Many have raised their eyebrows after Victor Wembanyama committed an unsportsmanlike move against Jalen Brunson at the start of Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals.
From Charles Barkley's perspective, the New York Knicks need to send a message to Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs as a way of standing up for Brunson following the incident.
"What the Knicks should do is knock the hell out of Victor Wembanyama at some point because of the two things he did to Jalen Brunson," the NBA legend claimed on The Dan Patrick Show. "I didn't like it—I loved it. This is a competition, but you can't let them manhandle your best player.
"They hit Jalen twice unnecessarily, and I'm surprised the Knicks haven't retaliated. They clearly targeted him, and both were dirty plays."
Wembanyama pulls questionable, uncalled shove against Brunson
The infamous incident occurred with four minutes left back in last Monday's Game 3. As they got tangled up, Wembanyama suddenly took a forceful shove on Brunson, causing the Knicks superstar to fall and touch the floor.
Infuriated, Brunson immediately confronted Wembanyama, but the San Antonio only smirked as he reacted.
Interestingly, no call was given against Wembanyama, and the officials did not even attempt to review the cheap shot.
"If I were the Knicks, I'd knock the hell out of Victor early in the game. They should have done it last game. Jalen went at Victor, but he's too little to intimidate him. That's where Karl-Anthony Towns, OG, or somebody has to take a flagrant foul on Victor," Barkley argued. "Every time they hit Jalen, you've got to knock the hell out of them too.
"That's the way sports are played. One of the reasons I love hockey is because they believe in justice—if you hit one of their great players, they're coming after you. I believe in that. It should be physical. You're playing to win the championship."
The NBA office has already admitted the shortcomings of Game 3 officials for not reviewing the play. But as the investigation was conducted, the league interestingly announced that there would be no foul upgrade against Wembanyama's antics.
Like anybody else, Barkley believes that Wembanyama should have been called with a flagrant foul. Regardless, he wants the Knicks to send a message and support Brunson.
"I don't know if they can go back and look at it, or if they should have fined him later, but I don't think they actually reviewed the play because that should have been a flagrant," Barkley noted. "Like I said, the Knicks have to do something to Wembanyama. They should have done it last game.
"They knocked the hell out of Brunson twice, and he's a kid and a great player."
Like what we are doing? You can express your gratitude here.
If you like our content, please click here and add us as your preferred source. It helps us a lot, and we are committed to delivering you the very latest basketball news.