With Game 3 and 4 of the NBA Finals in New York City, the Big Apple is doing its best to roll out the red carpet for San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama ... and perhaps keep him away from the court altogether.
Fresh off a mammoth Western Conference series in which he averaged 27.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, there's little arguing that any path to Larry O'Brien for the Spurs comes with a serious role for the 7-foot-4 center. So New York -- and its leaders -- are doing all they can to slow him down.
Even if that slowing comes in the form of well-timed event invites.
On Wednesday, ahead of the Knicks' Game 1 victory, New York mayor Zohran Mamdani extended an invitation for Wembanyama to attend a city Commission on Government Efficiency hearing slated for June 10. The catch? That hearing is the books for 5 to 8 p.m., set to end just half an hour before Game 4's scheduled tip-off in Manhattan -- quite a few stops down the B Train from the hearing's Fordham University location in the Bronx.
I'm pleased to invite @Wemby to our second Commission on Government Efficiency hearing on Wednesday June 10th 5-8pm, where we'll be asking the public for their thoughts on how government can run better. Would love to have you there for the whole time!
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) June 3, 2026
The mayor isn't the only Big Apple staple extending invites to Wembanyama.
The day before Mamdani's invitation, Film at Lincoln Center took to social media to make their own offer: tickets to a Sunday screening of the film "1900," which runs five and a half hours long, while Wembanyama would be in town for "a work-related trip".
Game 3 will tip off at Madison Square Garden on Monday night (8:30 p.m., ESPN), and Game 4 is set for the same time on Wednesday, where Wembanyama presumably will not arrive late in a cab from the Bronx.