Things turned chaotic in New York City after the Knicks fell to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 on Monday evening, and it has Spurs fans saying Knicks fans “should be ashamed of themselves.”
As soon as the Spurs arrived in New York City, things were tense. Videos surfaced of Knicks fans hurling insults at team members outside their hotel, ripping up a Wembanyama jersey in the streets, and chasing down people wearing Spurs jerseys. But after the Spurs took the game 115-111 in a close match-up, frustration boiled over.
According to Fox News, a watch party in Bryant Park (just a few blocks away from Times Square and about a 15-minute walk from Madison Square Garden) ended with police in riot gear deploying pepper spray and more than 20 arrests. People climbed on vehicles and other structures, and one man was hitting people with a bus sign removed from a nearby pole, according to Fox News.
NYPD told the news outlet that a total of 21 arrests were made at the watch party: 13 of those for disorderly conduct (who were later released) and eight for assaulting officers, criminal possession of weapons and menacing.
But there was more to the scene in New York. One TikTok creator, Catherine Ebs, said she and her friend, Anissa McLaughlin (wife of Spurs point guard Jordan McLaughlin), “were the only Spurs fans in that entire arena” and were given two middle fingers by a male Knicks fan during Game 3. Additionally, one TikTok video shows Knicks fans chasing after and grabbing onto a bus they apparently believe belongs to the Spurs (although it’s impossible to tell who was inside).
People also captured a video of two Spurs fans being escorted into a taxi by police, as onlookers seemed to jeer them. One person can be heard yelling, “Where are you going?” at the Spurs fans as they get inside the car. In the comments, Texans were angry because “in Texas we NEVER treated them like this,” one user wrote. Another called the scene “a little ridiculous,” and another said they “hope the Knicks [lose] because of this.”
MySA reached out to the NYPD for more information, but had not heard back at the time of publication.
Madison Square Garden was full of orange and blue, but some Spurs fans came out to support the team. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett was also in attendance and said in a post on Threads that she’s “not sure if I was the Spurs’ Lucky Charm last night or if Trump was the spoiler for the Knicks, either way, I was happy to pull up & REP TEXAS!”
Some of the players’ family members and partners showed up too. According to social media posts, it appears that Dylan Harper’s girlfriend, former college baller JoJo Lacy, and De’Aaron Fox’s wife, Recee, were both in the house. Kelly Olynyk’s wife, Jackie, did attend a Finals game in San Antonio and it looks like she did make it to NYC as well. Lastly, Stephon Castle’s mother was in the building, according to her TikTok.