Knicks Fan Rich Weighs In on Victor Wembanyama’s Less-Than-Ideal Handling of Spurs’ GM5 Loss

Rich landed on a forgiving verdict for Victor Wembanyama's prickly send-off after the Spurs lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals to the Knicks: it was immaturity, not a character flaw, and not a reason to turn on him.

The clip in question showed Wembanyama walking out on the media after the loss. A handler cut off the reporters with "No, we're done. I'm sorry," and Wembanyama signed off with "Appreciate y'all. See y'all. Never." Rich's read was direct.

"I'm just going to chalk it up to he's 22," he said. "I mean, it's immature. Just some immaturity. That's all."

What Rich would not do was reverse himself on a player he had been praising for weeks. He had been talking up how much Wembanyama cares, especially in an era where stars sit games on the advice of "some analytics expert or somebody who's, like, trying to get their circadian rhythm better off."

"I'm not going to sit here and say I love the fact that he cares so much and now bash him for caring too much that he can't live in the moment to shake hands and things like that," Rich said. "He'll learn. He'll learn as he gets through all of this stuff."

He pushed back on the idea that the moment proved Wembanyama is arrogant, leaning on a lighter cultural wrinkle. "Have you ever met a French person before?" Rich joked, recounting how his wife Susie, fluent in French, gets directions in Paris while he gets blank stares. "He's French. Cut him some slack."

From there Rich steered the conversation to what actually matters: how the league officiates a player no one has seen at this size, on both ends. He flagged that Wembanyama gets benefit of the doubt because he is "so long and lanky," then argued the more pressing question is his defense. He singled out Wembanyama landing well under Jalen Brunson on a three-point attempt, his foot deep into the landing area, and said had the Spurs held on to win Game 5, the debate would have been whether that should have been upgraded to a flagrant and cost him Game 6.

The takeaway: Rich filed the "see you never" line under growing pains, and saved his real scrutiny for whether Wembanyama is dirty or simply a 7-foot-4 force the officials have not figured out how to call.