When Ghedalia Gold-Pastor, a financial solutions advisor for Bank of America, woke up Monday morning, he didn’t expect to end the night sprawled out on the fabled Madison Square Garden basketball court.
But there he was, diving on the floor at halftime to win money in a tic-tac-toe match.
Gold-Pastor, a lifelong New York sports fan, and his fiancée had gotten free tickets to the New York Knicks’ preseason game against the Washington Wizards from a friend. After arriving an hour early to take pictures near the court, he said the Knicks’ entertainment team approached him. They told him they loved his energy and invited him to take part in the halftime program, which he obliged.
Not entirely sure what to expect, he knew just one strategy when stepping onto the floor.
“(The plan was) just lay it all out on the line,” he said in a phone interview with The Athletic. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get another opportunity like this, ever, in an incredible arena with so many people there. I was like, ‘All right, I’m not going out of here with a loss.’”
With a $500 prize up for grabs, Gold-Pastor and his competitor were to make a layup on opposing ends, then sprint into the middle to place their respective Xs and Os, repeating the process until there was a winner.
He got there first, placing his “O” in the middle square. His opponent went top left. Gold-Pastor stumbled on his way back for the second, ceding the second move (center left) and then going to the top right. It left a foot race for the same bottom left square to win.
the greatest moment in tic tac toe history pic.twitter.com/9gguXebSTX
— Steve Jones (@stevejones20) October 14, 2025
Gold-Pastor, a step behind because of his brief stumble, left it all on the floor, diving chest-first to place his winning “O” down a split second before the “X” could get there.
“I was like ‘I’m just gonna go all out and lay it all out there,’” he said. “And I did it. It was awesome. It was incredible.”
He hopes his effort and lay it all on the line mentality pervades the Knicks locker room and is mirrored by the reigning Eastern Conference runner-ups under new head coach Mike Brown.
“We want to see the Knicks bring the same work ethic, the same will to win, the same competitive drive to what they do day in, day out,” he said. “Just like I left it all up there on the floor for this tic-tac-toe game.”
As for what he’ll do with his $500 earned on the Garden floor?
“I might frame the check,” Gold-Pastor said. “Never even deposit it, we’ll see. Never forget the moment. I’ll see if I can get it autographed from the team.”