Knicks' Jose Alvarado slams Victor Wembanyama for not shaking hands after NBA Finals

New York Knicks reserve guard Jose Alvarado wasn't a fan of Victor Wembanyama's decision not to shake hands with any Knicks players after they bested the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the 2026 NBA Finals. 

During a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, Alvarado called out Wembanyama for his lack of sportsmanship. 

"I've got mixed emotions. I'm a competitor too, but also I stare my enemies down, I look forward to them, I shake their hand. Obviously, it's a game. You don't like the moment, you lost probably the biggest game of your career, but you're going to have more moments," Alvarado said. 

"And I feel like the way he did it was a little too crazy for me because I loved how he competes during the game. Obviously, people didn't like how he was being aggressive, but bro, we fighting for something. Between the lines, I feel like anything is cool. Outside the lines, shake your hand, you know, shake hands and call it what it is."

Alvarado wasn't the first person to call out Wembanyama for the perceived lack of sportsmanship. Many other pundits and players did so as well, including Golden State Warriors star forward Draymond Green, who called out Wembanyama during a recent episode of his podcast. 

“Look your killer in the face,” Green said. “You gotta look them in the face. By the way, if you leave the court and you don’t look me in my face and I just beat you, I actually know that I own you forever because you couldn’t look me in the face.”

Wembanyama is very young, and this was his first playoff appearance, so he'll get the benefit of the doubt for now. But hopefully this is a situation he can learn from in the future. 

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