Knicks fans were taunting Trae Young all throughout Game 2, but this crossed the line.
The Knicks fan who spit on Trae Young in the 4th quarter of Game 2 has been banned indefinitely, according to a statement from the team. Young is refusing to press charges, with his agent saying, “We appreciate the Garden’s response to the incident and Trae’s focus remains on his teammates and Game 3.”
Smart Response
This was the right response from Young and his camp. Anything else and he’d be bringing upon negative energy for his team after a crucial loss. Additionally, you know he just eats this shit up. He’s even said that he knows he’s doing “something right” when the fans boo him. When he shushed the fans after his game-winner in the first matchup, he knew exactly what he was getting himself into. Knicks fans don’t take too kindly to getting told to be quiet, and this was reflected in Game 2. It didn’t really seem to affect him either, as he scored 30 last night.
Some of the chants towards Young were actually original and pretty funny. Instead of the usual F*** Trae Young chants, Knicks fans actually coordinated a different kind of chant (See below).
Surprisingly, this was the only chant in Madison Square Garden last night that was a fact, not an opinion. New Yorkers know how to insult people. It’s basically in their blood. Not too many of them, however, can separate their emotions from their arguments. Bravo, whoever handed out this paper, bravo.
Where They Crossed the Line
Clearly, hurling an object at a player (In this case, actual spit) is not cool and something we should never see at sporting events. This was the SECOND example of this last night (Sorry, Russell Westbrook). By the way, if you haven’t seen what happened to Westbrook, I highly recommend you check it out. That could have easily turned into the true sequel to the Malice in the Palace.
Back to spitgate. The Knicks made the right move by banning whoever did this. It actually may be the first time they have been justified in throwing someone out (Thanks, James Dolan). It looks like the Knicks are truly changing their entire culture, and I never thought I’d see the day. Shoutout to World Wide Wes. The Knicks-Hawks saga continues at 7 pm ET tomorrow night.
