New York Knicks fans are celebrating the team’s first Eastern Conference Finals berth since 1999, and they are crashing out in the streets surrounding Madison Square Garden.
Like many playoff wins, the fans celebrated the Knicks’ blowout game six win against the Boston Celtics on Friday night. The reigning champs went home with a sidelined Jayson Tatum, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon.
Tyrese Haliburton is flying out Pacers fan Hanz Perez to a playoff game after he was hit with trash in New York for wearing his jersey
(Via @PatMcAfeeShow )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 19, 2025
A mob of people wearing orange and blue were trailing behind a man wearing Tyrese Haliburton’s Indiana Pacers jersey and smacked him with bags full of trash. After turning around and realizing what happened, he begins to walk away when another bag is launched at him. The clip ends with the crowd groaning as people circle him.
Knicks fans’ vitriol is tied back to a long-standing rivalry with the Pacers and only heats up knowing that they’ll be facing them in the Conference Finals.
Thanks to the power of the internet, the Pacers fan was identified as Hans Perez. A firefighter, Perez appeared on The Pat McAfee Show to talk about his Pacers fandom, which includes a tattoo, and how he felt in a sea of diehard Knicks supporters.
“I’ve been wearing that jersey all playoffs long..
I had to go by Madison Square Garden”
Hans Perez #PMSLive https://t.co/D9SYrbzJID pic.twitter.com/BZMGFUvAWk
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 19, 2025
“At first it was just dudes talking smack to me, having a little fun,” he begins. “But then it started to get a little more handsy. Dudes wanted the jersey, so then I started to get a little nervous and looking for the nearest police.”
He didn’t want to hype the crowd up, so he repeatedly told them to calm down and decided not to run away, fearing they’d take off after him. Instead, he just walked until he saw some cop cars, and the fans trailed off.
“I personally wanna bring you and a plus one out to Indiana for game four..
Everybody in our organization wants to make sure that you’re taken care of” ~ @TyHaliburton22 #PMSLive https://t.co/QN7dTplbIw pic.twitter.com/B8y1iqVO02
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 19, 2025
After telling McAfee what happened, the ESPN host surprised him with an appearance from Haliburton, who offered to fly him out to Indianapolis for game four and meet the team.
“Everybody in our organization wants to make sure that you’re taken care of. The team is excited to meet you,” Haliburton said. “It’s all we’ve been talking about; everyone has seen the video.”
The Pacers righting a wrong looks good on the franchise and only adds to the rivalry, which will officially be revived once game one kicks off Wednesday.
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