Hawks' Trae Young Reacts To Video Of Knicks Fan Spitting At Him: 'Keep Ya Mask On My Boy, That's Just Childish'
(CBSNewYork)- The Knicks evened their series with the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night thanks to a 101-92 win in front of the fans at Madison Square Garden. The victory saw many fans joyously reacting in the streets of the city but much of the discussion Thursday has centered around a fan's behavior in the arena. Video surfaced online of a fan appearing to spit at Hawks guard Trae Young while he was inbounding the ball from the sideline.
Young, who wasn't asked about the incident in his postgame press conference, saw the video circulating and reacted on Twitter calling it "crazy" and also asking rapper 50 Cent, who was in the front row in front of the fan, whether he was okay or not.
Young followed up that tweet with one this morning telling the fan to keep his mask on and including the hashtag #thatsjustchildish.
The incident came on the same night that a fan in Philadelphia dumped popcorn on the head of Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook as he was leaving the game to receive medical attention. The Knicks released a statement Thursday afternoon saying that the team has investigated the matter and banned the fan indefinitely.
"We investigated the matter and determined that this patron, who is not a season ticket holder, did indeed spit on Trae Young, and for that reason, he is now banned from the Garden indefinitely. We apologize to Trae and the entire Atlanta Hawks organization for this fan's behavior. This was completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our venue. We have turned the information over to the appropriate authorities."
The NBA released an official statement on Thursday morning saying:
"The return of more NBA fans to our arenas has brought great excitement and energy to the start of the playoffs, but it is critical that we all show respect for players, officials and our fellow fans. An enhanced fan code of conduct will be vigorously enforced in order to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all involved."
On Fox Sports 1's morning show Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe called the act "unacceptable". His co-host Skip Bayless called it the "ultimate act of disrespect."
"I understand fan is short for fanatic. And I understand that these fans have been fans of their particular team since they were infants," said Sharpe. "But, when did it become okay to be disrespectful. The thing that you always try to remember, that's someone's son or that's someone's daughter. So if someone were to spit on your son or your daughter how would you feel?"
