The fan experience has certainly featured the good, bad and ugly this NBA postseason.
After ESPN reporter Brian Windhorst was harassed after the Knicks eliminated the Celtics in six games, he recently revealed that it wasn’t just heckling that he experienced while leaving the arena.
“Those were not Knicks fans. Those were hooligans,” Windhorst said on the “Pardon My Take” podcast.
“Knicks fans were not a block away from the Garden at 12:30 in the morning. Knicks fans were off celebrating with themselves … the truth is, that there is other footage that apparently is not going to become unearthed where hands were put on me.
“Nothing serious happened. People put their hands on me and I had to shove their hands off and I basically jaywalked across 35th Street to get away.”
A clip of Windhorst walking to his hotel from Madison Square Garden went viral after the Knicks’ dominant 119-81 series-clinching Game 6 win over the Celtics.
In the clip, a man asked Windhorst a question before yelling at the ESPN reporter as others threw things in his direction.
“I was never in serious danger. But it was not a pleasant experience at 12:35 in the morning. Those were not Knicks fans,” Windhorst said. “Those were not the same people that I saw two hours earlier, enjoying one of the great moments in the Garden of most of their lives. So, I don’t equate the two things.”
After Game 6, Windhorst recorded a podcast with co-host Tim Bontemps inside an empty MSG, where he asked “How long are we going to have to be in here until we can safely go outside?”
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Windhorst. who had been bullish on the Celtics’ chances of a comeback in the series, knew before he even left that this would be a dicey situation regardless of when he attempted to leave the arena.
The questionable fan behavior has not been limited to Knicks supporters.
It was reported Tuesday that a Pacers fan stabbed two Knicks fans at an Indianapolis bar during Game 2.
The Knicks have since followed up their series with the Celtics with a disappointing showing against the Pacers, going down 3-1 in the Eastern Conference finals and blowing a 17-point fourth quarter lead at home in Game 1.
They face the Pacers in a potential elimination game in Game 5 at home on Thursday.