New York Knicks NBA’s bungled response only made noise louder around Victor Wembanyama’s controversial shove By Mike Vaccaro Published June 10, 2026, 8:21 p.m. ET Jalen Brunson looks to make a move on Victor Wembanyama during the Knicks' Game 3 loss to the Spurs in the NBA Finals. NBAE via Getty Images There aren’t a lot of sports matters that I have little time for. But there are two that, normally, push the boundaries to their brink.
One is officials — 999 times out of 1,000 I’ll stop in its tracks any kind of argument that blames losses on officials. That’s a loser’s lament. Do refs/umps blow calls? All the time. Have there been some crooked ones? We know there have, a few. Were there ever home-court heroes? Fewer and fewer than back in the day, when Looie Carnesecca’s pregame smile would grow a little brighter when a few friendly whistle-blowers were assigned to the game.
(Although I sure wish someone had taken a picture of Boston College coach William Coady when he walked into sparkling new Rose Hill Gym on the night of Jan. 16 — first game ever at that priceless hoops relic — and saw that one of the refs for that game was none other than Giants second baseman Frankie Frisch, also known, rather famously, as “The Fordham Flash.” It will probably not surprise you that the Rams clipped the Eagles that night 46-16.)
The other? Let’s combine two words here: conspirajinxes. I take great delight in reading about things like frozen envelopes and billy goat curses, but to use them as a cudgel for a sports argument … I have no patience for that.
