{"id":1981074,"date":"2026-06-09T20:22:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:22:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1981074"},"modified":"2026-06-09T20:22:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:22:53","slug":"spurs-knicks-criticize-fans-for-violence-after-game-3-we-cant-forget-its-a-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1981074","title":{"rendered":"Spurs, Knicks criticize fans for violence after Game 3: \u2018We can\u2019t forget it\u2019s a game\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NEW YORK \u2014 Viral footage of New York Knicks fans verbally and physically assaulting<\/a> San Antonio Spurs fans, including at least one wearing a Victor Wembanyama jersey, seemed to have escaped the San Antonio star\u2019s attention after Game 3 of the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n

But on Tuesday, Wembanyama called out fans for attacking one another.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI didn\u2019t know. \u2026 We can\u2019t forget it\u2019s a game,\u201d Wembanyama said. \u201cWe\u2019re just playing a game out there. I am all for passion, but to the respect of each other. It\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first finals game at Madison Square Garden in 27 years was sure to bring its own level of chaos. Toss in President Donald J. Trump\u2019s attendance<\/a>, which forced thousands of fans away from the Garden because of a relocated outdoor watch party, and the fact the Knicks lost 115-111, snapping a 13-game winning streak, and the scene turned violent as Monday became Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The MSG watch party was relocated to Bryant Park, several blocks away. Videos circulating online appeared to show NYPD officers deploying pepper spray to quell the violence, a Wembanyama jersey being ripped apart by a group of Knicks fans, a fan in a Spurs jersey leaving the scene with a bloodied face, and other fans in Spurs jerseys running through the streets as objects and obscenities were hurled at them. There were more than 20 arrests related to fan interactions.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe game is built off of respect and passion,\u201d New York\u2019s Karl-Anthony Towns said. \u201cWe want everyone to respect each other. We want everyone to enjoy basketball at its purest state. It\u2019s the NBA Finals. There\u2019s no better place to watch basketball. Leave the physicality to everyone on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Wembanyama, Knicks guard and New York native Jose Alvarado hadn\u2019t seen the violent footage. \u201cI don\u2019t think it should ever get to a point of people putting their hands (on each other),\u201d Alvarado said. \u201cLet\u2019s not change our energy, Knicks fans. We love who we are, but like I said, hands on each other is (bad).\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Spurs guard Julian Champagnie, a native New Yorker: \u201cIt\u2019s just not necessary. No one should be coming to the game and getting assaulted like that. It\u2019s not what we\u2019re promoting. It\u2019s not what we\u2019re playing for.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Chaos<\/p>\n
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\n Chaos outside Knicks watch party after Game 3 resulted in arrests, 5 NYPD officers injured\n <\/div>\n
\n There were an estimated 7,000 people in the vicinity of Bryant Park after the Knicks\u2019 loss to the Spurs in Game 3.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Even one of the Knicks\u2019 celebrity fans felt compelled to weigh in.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Knick fan doesn\u2019t mean being disrespectful to Spurs fans in any way,\u201d Ben Stiller<\/a> wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cWe get caught up during the games but we gotta show respect to our fellow humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Knicks lead the series 2-1, but there will obviously be no clinching game Wednesday at the Garden. Trump is not expected to attend \u2014 the Secret Service\u2019s security perimeter from Game 3 was gone Tuesday \u2014 and the earliest New York could close out this series would be Game 5 on Saturday in San Antonio.<\/p>\n

On the court, that\u2019s a long way off (the home team has yet to win a game in this series). If there is a Game 6 in New York on June 16, it would coincide with a FIFA World Cup soccer match at the Meadowlands between France and Senegal, which would make for another, could we say, unique set of circumstances surrounding an otherwise huge night for the Knicks at the Garden.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, we don\u2019t go past five games,\u201d Knicks forward Josh Hart said. \u201cOur thought process is we want to win every single game, not because we don\u2019t want to clash with France and Senegal playing in the World Cup. We want to win the next game, and that mentality doesn\u2019t change, no matter who we play, no matter what goes on around us, no matter what goes on in the city. As competitors, we want to win the next game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019re thinking the same thing \u2014 they want to win the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n

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What You Should Read Next<\/div>\n
\n \"Donald<\/p>\n
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\n Donald Trump, James Dolan tried to ruin NBA Finals vibe. The Knicks\u2019 loss killed it\n <\/div>\n
\n Dolan should’ve known Trump’s presence would hijack attention from the night and complicate logistics for the NBA and deeply invested fans.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

New York fans were chanting an obscenity and attaching it to Wembanyama\u2019s last name inside the Garden on Monday. That sort of taunt, though perhaps crude, is fair game, and the 22-year-old French star seemed to accept that, saying he wasn\u2019t as big a villain at MSG as Trae Young.<\/p>\n

Temperatures might remain high in the arena Wednesday, especially if Wemby stars again (he had 32 points in Game 3) and the Spurs even the series. But the players don\u2019t want fans rooting for either team to get hurt because of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSafety for everyone involved is the most important thing, right? Nobody\u2019s trying to have any type of altercation or any type of serious injury outside of the floor,\u201d San Antonio\u2019s Harrison Barnes said. \u201cFor the respect of the game, for the respect of why we\u2019re all here \u2014 to witness great basketball \u2014 I don\u2019t think fans attending games, fans going to watch parties or anything like that, should have to fear for their safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Sam Amick contributed to this story.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Viral footage of New York Knicks fans verbally and physically assaulting San Antonio Spurs fans, including at least one wearing a Victor Wembanyama jersey, seemed to have escaped the San Antonio star\u2019s attention after Game 3 of the NBA Finals. But on Tuesday, Wembanyama called out fans for attacking one another. Advertisement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1981074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1981074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1981074\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1981074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1981074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1981074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}