The Knicks signed Jose Alvarado for moments like this. They probably did not expect him to wrestle a seven-foot-five MVP candidate to the floor in front of a national audience, but here we are.
In the third quarter of Game 4, Alvarado found himself defending Victor Wembanyama in the open court after a switch. Most six-foot guards in that situation just give up the layup and live to fight another play.
Alvarado is not most guards. He grabbed Wembanyama and yanked him down to the ground like he was finishing a wrestling move.
The replay was wild. Alvarado had both arms wrapped around the Spurs star. Wembanyama tried to spin out of it, and Alvarado used his momentum to take him straight to the hardwood. There was no possible way to call this a normal basketball foul. It was a WWE takedown.
Yet, somehow, the officials only gave Alvarado a common foul. No flagrant. No technical. No review.
Spurs fans lost their minds. Alvarado fans on the New York side loved it. The general reaction online was a mix of disbelief and respect for one of the most aggressive plays in this entire Finals.
This is Alvarado’s whole deal. He is undersized, hyper-physical, and willing to do things other guys will not. His nickname is GTA for a reason. He has built his entire career off picking pockets, drawing charges, and getting under the skin of stars.
In a Finals where the Knicks are trying to slow down the most physically gifted player in basketball, Alvarado has been a perfect chaos agent off the bench. He cannot guard Wembanyama in space. Nobody can. But he can make Wembanyama hate every second they spend on the floor together, and that has value.
Wembanyama, for his part, did not retaliate. He got up, gave Alvarado a look, and got back to work. That kind of restraint is impressive at 22 years old, especially in the middle of a Finals game with everything on the line.
The officiating call is the part that will get debated all week. By the letter of the rule, this should have been a flagrant. Alvarado wrapped both arms around a player who did not have the ball under control yet and brought him to the floor. That is the textbook definition.
The fact that it was not called says something about how the Finals are being officiated. The refs have let a lot of contact slide in this series. Both sides have grumbled about it. Mike Brown went off about officiating after Game 3. Coach Mitch Johnson will likely have something to say after Game 4.
For the Knicks, the no-call was a freebie. For Alvarado, it was just another night of doing whatever it takes to win. He is the most popular Knick on social media right now, and after Game 4, it is easy to see why.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
