Knicks Fans Chanted ‘We Want Wemby’ After Win vs. Cavs. They Should Be Careful What They Wish For

Are Knicks fans the most obnoxious fans in basketball? Well, they are certainly quite passionate, considering every win is the most important win in history, and every loss is the end of the world. Last season, for example, when the team eliminated the Celtics in six games, a few rogue supporters harassed ESPN's Brian Windhorst in the streets of Manhattan. A lone Pacers fan was also heckled around the same time. (Tyrese Haliburton later stepped in to make sure the negative experience ended positively.)

Then, after the Knicks rallied to erase a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s Eastern Conference finals Game 1 vs. the Cavaliers (a comeback of historic proportions), some high-flying New York fans stood outside Madison Square Garden and chanted, "We want Wemby! We want Wemby!" As in: "We're ready to advance to the Finals. And we're ready to take on the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama when we get there."

(To note: San Antonio is still in the middle of its Western Conference finals series vs. Oklahoma City, leading 1–0.)

“We want Wemby” chants outside The Garden 👀 pic.twitter.com/wB9tcn4eYx
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 20, 2026

However, Knicks fans would do well to watch what they wish for. Because a win against the Cavaliers—which was fueled in large part by James Harden's poor defense, mind you—is certainly not the same as taking on the 7'4" Wembanyama and a surging San Antonio team.

On Monday night, the Spurs and their Alien-like center defeated the up-to-that-point undefeated Thunder in the WCF, a 122–115 double-overtime victory wherein Wembanyama had 41 points and 24 rebounds (plus three blocks). He was a menace at the rim and forced the typically offensively adept Thunder to take some less-than-ideal looks. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who just won his second consecutive MVP award and was second in the league in points scored during the regular season, for instance, went just 7-for-23 from the field in an uncharacteristically inefficient performance.

It's also worth remembering that Wembanyama was named the 2025–26 Defensive Player of the Year. In addition to his 11.5 rebounds, Wemby averaged 3.1 blocks per game in the regular season, much more than the next closest competitors. (OKC's Chet Holmgren and Indiana's Jay Huff tied for second with 1.9. And on the Knicks, Mitchell Robinson led that category with 1.2.) And if you need another recent example of why he won this title, again, look no further than Monday's game, when Oklahoma City had just 38 points in the paint on Monday, compared to San Antonio’s 52.

New York had 60 points in the paint on Tuesday night. They would likely not be so successful should they face the Spurs.

This is certainly not to say that the Knicks couldn't beat the San Antonio; New York has playoff experience that the Spurs do not, and the team could leverage that—plus what might be a quick series vs. Cleveland—to their advantage in the Finals. Additionally, the two teams met three times during the regular season (including the NBA Cup Championship), and New York holds a 2–1 edge in those meetings. Most notably, the Knicks annihilated the Spurs in their most recent bout on March 1 (114–89), though Wemby and the Spurs are playing at a much higher level now.

In this moment, the Alien is really heating up. And with the way he is playing, you might not want to be begging him to come to MSG after one comeback win that was very nearly a loss. The Thunder are unbelievably good, yes, but we already know from the Pacers' run last year that the underdogs still have a chance against them. When it comes to playoff Wemby, though, well, we're still figuring that part out.

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