Rich’s Message to Fellow Overconfident Knicks Fans Already Wanting to Face Victor Wembanyama

Rich loved Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. He was also up at night because a contingent of his fellow Knicks fans spent the next morning on 7th Avenue chanting three words he wished they had not chanted.

We Want Wemby.

"I was like, oh, please do not say that," Rich said.

The structural concern Rich kept returning to was specific. Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals happened. He watched Victor Wembanyama, on his 22nd birthday, watch Shai Gilgeous-Alexander accept the MVP trophy in San Antonio's home building. Then he watched Wembanyama deliver a 41-point, 24-rebound, three-block performance, including a deep three from the logo in double-overtime that only Stephen Curry has any business making.

The Spurs won without De'Aaron Fox.

"That is only comparable to Steph Curry," Rich said of the late three. "That was ridiculous."

What Rich said next was the part that mattered, and the part he addressed to his own fanbase.

"When he was coming out of France, we said he's got the handle and three-point shot of Steph Curry and the shot blocking ability of somebody you've never seen before," Rich said. "None of us knew at the time what I do believe is now apparent to everyone. This guy's best ability, his most special attribute, may be what we don't see and what burns inside."

Rich made the comparison he has spent two weeks circling.

"It reminds me of Jordan," Rich said. "Tiger Woods. Kobe."

The room added Mahomes 2018 and Tiger 97 at Augusta to the bucket. Chris invoked the first time anyone watched Patrick Mahomes play a meaningful NFL snap and immediately understood the league was about to change. That, Chris argued, is how watching Wembanyama feels now.

Rich also flagged the supporting infrastructure Wembanyama has around him. Gregg Popovich is stoking the fire whenever he has the chance. Tim Duncan and the entire 90s and 2000s Spurs old guard sit courtside and serve as a kind of guidance committee Wembanyama can lean on. The image Rich kept returning to was Wembanyama after his block on Chet Holmgren, standing alone on the court while his teammates pointed at him from the sidelines.

The reminder Rich wanted Knicks fans to internalize came through a name.

"The reason Ewing is sitting there celebrating ringless," Rich said, gesturing to the Knicks legends who attend games courtesy of James Dolan, "is the same guy I just invoked."

The room expanded on the cautionary tale. Patrick Ewing had the bad luck of being in the league at the same time as Michael Jordan, and then at the same time as a peak Hakeem Olajuwon. The Knicks teams Ewing led ran into men whose entire careers were built on personal slights they had decided would be turned into chips on shoulders. David Robinson winning MVP in front of Olajuwon was its own poisoned trophy that Olajuwon spent the next year unspooling.

Wembanyama, in Rich's read, is now the man holding that particular grudge.

"I see it in this day and age, certainly in the NBA, when we're wondering who cares enough," Rich said. "Who matches the fans' flame? Who wants to dominate? Who wants to be great? Who takes this profession personally?"

Wembanyama, the show concluded, does. That is exactly why the Knicks fans on 7th Avenue should stop calling him out.

"Popcorn is ready," Rich said. "I can't wait to watch."

The implication, for the Knicks faithful, was clear. Manage expectations one quarter at a time.