In the most recent game between the New York Knicks and Orlando Magic, it is clear there is no love lost between the two franchises.
That was evident when Desmond Bane threw the ball at OG Anunoby after the whistle, sparking a small scuffle between the two Eastern Conference teams. Deemed a hostile act by the officials, Bane was given a technical foul, and though the two wing players appeared to ‘hug it out,‘ it was perhaps the defining moment of the Knicks’ six-point win over the Magic.
Speaking after the game, former NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins gave a bold take as to what he thought Anunoby should have done in retaliation.
“I‘m not saying punch him in the face, but maybe slap the [expletive] out of him,” Cousins said on FanDuel TV. “That’s crazy. Yeah, I’m not going for that; that’s crazy.
Bane threw the ball at Anunoby after the play was over, but there has been no evidence to indicate the reason why the Magic star made the move that Chandler Parsons of FDTV called, ‘one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen on a basketball court.’
Reactions To The Desmond Bane OG Anunoby Incident
The moment, though it didn’t lead to much, was perhaps the biggest storyline of Sunday’s slate of NBA games. Right after the Bane and Anunoby incident occurred, Mike Breen and Clyde Frazier, both commentating on the game, were very confused as to what they had just watched.
Basketball host for CBS Sports, Ashley Nicole Moss, called Bane’s move ‘clown behavior‘, while former NBA veteran Eddie Johnson said the play was legal, but ‘nasty’.
With Cousins, both Parsons and former star Lou Williams believed there could have been other factors at play. Still, they couldn’t understand why Bane would throw the ball at Anunoby, especially considering it was the Knicks’ player going up for the layup. He was the one who was fouled, rather than him making a ‘dirty‘ play on one of Bane’s Orlando teammates.
There has been no official word from the NBA yet on whether Bane will face any further punishment, but considering it didn’t lead to an Anunoby injury or full-scale brawl, it’s safe to say the league will likely move on from the incident.
After the game, Anunoby himself spoke on Bane’s shot at him, with only a five-word response.
“I should have caught it,” he told reporters.
The incident against the Knicks was not Bane’s first time facing punishment or retaliation for throwing the ball against an opponent. In November, he was ejected from a game for spiking the ball on Onyeka Okongwu‘s head after fouling him on the fast break. Though Bane was initially surprised at his ejection, he later admitted it was a ‘hard foul.’
Knicks On A Roll
The game against the Magic was just one in a string of winning New York has gone on over the past few weeks. Since starting the season off slower than many fans had hoped, the Knicks have now won 14 of their last 18 contests, currently with a 16-7 record that puts them second in the East standings.
Though there were also early-season rumors and questions surrounding the duo of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, they’ve both found a groove under new head coach Mike Brown. The former is averaging 28 points (9th) and 6.4 assists per game, dropping a team-high 30 against the Magic. The latter is averaging 22.5 points and 11.9 rebounds (2nd) a night, while anchoring their improving post defense.
Both wings in Anunoby and Mikal Bridges have put in strong performances so far this season, despite the target of Bane’s throw recently missing time with a hamstring injury. Both are averaging at least 15 points, four rebounds, and nearly two steals per game.
“Anunoby and Bridges are two of the top veteran players in the NBA without All-Star appearances to their name. They’ve had multiple seasons where they’ve averaged high teens in scoring. They’ve long been considered two of the best wing defenders in the NBA,” James L. Edwards wrote on why both could become All-Stars. “The Knicks, who have the East’s second-best record at 16-7 with over a quarter of the season played, deserve multiple All-Stars behind Brunson.”
In a separate article, Edwards also mentioned how Brown ‘doesn’t care to be the smartest guy in the room‘ and that by using everyone in the organization to make decisions, which so far, has contributed to their success through the first quarter of the 2025-26 NBA season.
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