{"id":717497,"date":"2026-06-05T19:11:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/717497\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T19:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:11:15","slug":"pick-a-side-coward-even-handed-elmo-enrages-new-york-knicks-fans-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/717497\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Pick a side coward\u2019: even-handed Elmo enrages New York Knicks fans | New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA basketball finals<\/a> between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs has already drawn commentary after Spurs fans earlier this week continued a habit of wearing distracting, candy-colored T-shirts to honor the Texas city\u2019s annual Fiesta festival.<\/p>\n

But now the Knicks\u2019 first opportunity to win the title since 1999 \u2013 the last time they were in the finals, also against the Spurs, when they lost \u2013 has thrown fans in the Big Apple into such a partisan frenzy that some have come for one of their most beloved own.<\/p>\n

Knicks supporters are in a frenzy since, just before the first game of the finals this week \u2013 which New York went on to win<\/a> \u2013 the Sesame Street<\/a> character Elmo decline to offer an endorsement for his \u201chome team\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a post on X<\/a> earlier this week, the egalitarian Elmo indulged in a controversial slice of \u201cboth sidesism\u201d, equally wishing the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs well. \u201cElmo hopes both teams have fun!,\u201d the character wrote.<\/p>\n

Eight million people registered a \u201clike\u201d online.<\/p>\n

But some Knicks fans saw red. Some even became really rude, the complete antithesis of the loving and lovable puppet, as cyber outrage erupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you dare forget your roots you little red fuck,\u201d one outraged Knicks supporter posted online.<\/p>\n

The Sesame Street<\/a> TV show, of which Elmo is one of the most well known and adored characters, was conceived in New York, debuting in 1969.<\/p>\n

Many Knicks fans are now angry that the red Muppet, as ostensibly a New Yorker, didn\u2019t cheer for New York\u2019s perpetual underdog team.<\/p>\n

\u201cPICK A SIDE COWARD,\u201d wrote one user on X.<\/p>\n

\u201cElmo, I don\u2019t think you understand what is at stake here,\u201d another poster wrote, while another raged: \u201cI hope Elmo gets priced out of New York and has to move to New Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elmo attempted to patch thing up with a weak response on Thursday, posting: \u201cKNICKS that last message! Elmo didn\u2019t mean to SPUR you on!\u201d<\/p>\n

Basketball frenzy has briefly pushed the buildup to the soccer World Cup<\/a> into the background, even though that tournament, spread across the US, Mexico and Canada, kicks off in a few days.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump has said he plans to attend game three of the NBA<\/a> finals at Madison Square Garden next week, after receiving an invitation from the Knicks owner, James Dolan, raising the temperature even higher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer is yes \u2013 he\u2019s invited me, I\u2019m going,\u201d the US president, a longtime Knicks fan and New York native, told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office. Trump said he may also attend two other games next week.<\/p>\n

The NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, said: \u201cSports in particular is something where we can emphasize what we have in common, not what pulls us apart. I\u2019m thrilled that, yet another New Yorker wants to participate in the enthusiasm and the joy around this Knick team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA basketball finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs has already drawn commentary after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":717498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-717497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/717498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}