Bane play makes him a Gotham villain in Magic loss

New Yorkers, and specifically New York basketball fans, have an outsized view of their own importance. And if you anger them, for one reason or another -- as Reggie Miller and Trae Young did -- they don't tend to forget.

So expect Desmond Bane to get a rowdy, unpleasant welcome the next time the Orlando Magic are at Madison Square Garden, which in this case could be the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Magic had a rough day on 7th avenue Sunday, losing not only the game but also their star forward Franz Wagner, who has a knee injury that could be of some severity. But on social media, a lot of the conversation and consternation from the Knick fan side was related to Bane winding up and throwing the ball at Knicks wing OG Anunoby as Anunody was falling out of bounds. Many noted that this wasn't the first time Bane has done something of this sort this season, his first with Orlando.

Desmond Bane WYD⁉️😭 pic.twitter.com/WTU2qswlYK
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 7, 2025

The ball hit Anunoby in the back. Anunoby shot up like a rocket and gave Bane a slight shove back, which caused Bane to point that reaction out to the officials. The officials did step in before it escalated. Bane was assessed a technical foul. The incident caused some Knicks fans on Twitter to call Bane their new "public enemy No. 1," a designation usually reserved for the mayor or the subway conductor.

This angle is killing me pic.twitter.com/37UDf6BfX1
— Céad Míle Fáilte (@ColeyMick) December 7, 2025

Anunoby asked Bane why he did it: "Why was that bro?"

OG Anunoby to Desmond Bane after he whipped the ball at him 😅

“What was that bro, why you do that?” pic.twitter.com/VmEJttuAjS
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) December 7, 2025

Asked after the game, Anunoby quipped that he "should have caught it."

The situation is not occurring in a vacuum. Many quickly recalled that Bane was ejected earlier this season for firing the ball volleyball-style at Atlanta Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu.

EJECTED! Desmond Bane was ejected after he pulled Onyeka Okongwu to the ground, then spiked the ball at him like a volleyball 😂😳

Good or bad ejection? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/cdf2qM9fhj
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) November 5, 2025

That time, it didn't lead to a direct player-to-player confrontation, because Okongwu said later that he didn't even know it had happened, even if Hawks fans did.

Today following Hawks practice, I asked Onyeka Okongwu & Mo Gueye about what happened with the Desmond Bane situation on Tuesday.

“Honestly, I didn’t know he spiked the ball on my head till after the game.” - Onyeka

“I didn’t like what he did to my teammate...” - Mo pic.twitter.com/ugE21rYq4O
— JJ (@JameelahJNBA) November 7, 2025

We will see if there's additional fallout from the latest controversy, or whether the NBA takes any action.

What's clear is that Bane won't be getting free pizza at the Sbarro across the street anytime soon. And the Magic have bigger issues, as they await the results on Wagner's knee. If those are bad, Bane will be counted on to be one of the Magic's two primary scorers with Paolo Banchero going forward, starting with the Miami Heat visiting Tuesday for an NBA Cup quarterfinal.