Victor Wembanyama is 22 years old and already playing chess while everyone else plays checkers.
In the third quarter of Game 4, Wembanyama got into it with Knicks big man Mitchell Robinson on a rebound. Robinson, frustrated and rattled, lashed out with a forearm shot that the officials immediately called a flagrant one.
Wembanyama’s reaction was the part that made the moment go viral. He turned to Robinson, smirked, and gave him the universal goodbye wave.
Robinson was a heartbeat away from getting tossed.
This was not an accident. Wembanyama spent the entire game baiting Robinson into mistakes. He flailed on every contested rebound. He sold contact under the rim. He pulled the kind of subtle veteran tricks that most rookies do not figure out for three or four years in this league.
Robinson took the bait every time.
The flagrant was the final straw in a back-and-forth that had been simmering since the opening tip. Earlier in the game, Wembanyama had drawn one of the softest offensive fouls of the postseason on Karl-Anthony Towns by selling a bump. He has been playing this kind of game all series, and it is working.
For the Knicks, this is a real problem. Robinson is their best rim protector and one of their most physical defenders. Getting him into foul trouble in Finals games is exactly what the Spurs want. Wembanyama is the only player on the floor capable of doing it consistently, and he is finally figuring out how to weaponize it.
The optics are not great for Robinson either. He has been one of the emotional engines of this Knicks run, but losing your cool because a 22-year-old gave you a smirk is the kind of moment that follows you around.
Wembanyama’s antics also raise a question about how the Spurs lost a game in which their star was clearly outsmarting his matchup. The answer comes back to the fourth quarter collapse. Wembanyama got into early foul trouble of his own in the second half and sat for crucial possessions. The bench could not hold the lead. By the time he came back in, the Knicks had all the momentum.
None of that takes away from the show Wembanyama put on for three quarters. He had 32 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in Game 3 of this series. He followed it up with another huge night in Game 4, even if the final score did not reflect it.
The flagrant on Robinson will probably get reviewed by the league office. There is a real chance it gets upgraded to a flagrant two on tape. Either way, Wembanyama already won that exchange. He got under the skin of a key Knicks defender, drew the foul, and grinned about it on the way to the free throw line.
This is who Wembanyama is now. Not just a unicorn talent. A guy who knows how to hurt you mentally as well as physically.
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.
