‘Report Victor Wembanyama to ICE’: Viral Knicks' meme ignites debate before NBA Finals

The NBA Centel, with over 800K followers on X, has hit again, but at the expense of San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama. Even before Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the New York Knicks on Wednesday, the controversial account posted something that many Spurs fans found disrespectful and insensitive.

The popular parody X account ignited controversy this week after posting a joke in the form of a news report, saying the Knicks plan to report Wembanyama to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) because of his French nationality.

The New York Knicks plan to report Wemby to ICE ahead of Game 1 of the NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/PlNUQK7n2Q

The post, which has amassed 35,000 likes and 1.6 million impressions, is facing intense criticism for the lack of sensitivity and real immigration tensions within the country. While many sports fans gave it a free pass, considering it dark humor, some threw dirt over the account for lacking morals.

 "centel is funny most of the time and then they'll tweet something to remind you that this account is run by someone w no morals at all," one fan wrote.

"19k likes…. Just nuke the whole world atp," another added.

"lord send the flood we're ready," one fan joked.

"Joking about ice who are currently kidnapping and holding hostage innocent families is such a tired lame joke only weirdos like," another added.

"Centel is always hilarious," one fan commented.

MORE: Dylan Harper saw Victor Wembanyama’s pregame fit and knew Thunder were in trouble

Victor Wembanyama once expressed horror over ICE raids

The meme struck a bad nerve, especially because just past January, Victor Wembanyama publicly reacted to civilian deaths reportedly occured during the controversial "Operation Metro Surge" in Minnesota.

The Spurs star was "horrified" over the deaths and criticized the rhetoric, normalizing civilian deaths. Wembanyama's reaction came after the death of two civilians, Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

"PR has tried, but I'm not going to sit here and give some politically correct (answer)," Wembanyama said. "Every day I wake up and see the news and I'm horrified. I think that it's crazy that some people make it sound like it's acceptable, like the murder of civilians is acceptable."

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