‘Damn … Crazy!’ Hawks Star Trae Young Reacts to Video of Knicks Fan Apparently Trying to Spit on Him

Brandon ContesMay 27th, 2021, 9:44 am
 

Through two games at Madison Square Garden in New York, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young has been the subject of mistreatment by Knicks fans.

Getting serenaded with chants of “f*ck Trae Young” wasn’t the worst of it, as one Knicks fan appeared to spit at the NBA All-Star. An act that’s grotesque at any time, but even more ruthless in a Covid world.

If the saliva actually landed on Young, he didn’t seem to notice. Young playfully addressed the incident with a tweet after the game, checking in on rapper 50 Cent who sat courtside.

Thursday afternoon, the New York Knicks addressed the incident, releasing a statement that the fan who spit toward Young has been banned from Madison Square Garden.

“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 team said.

According to Young’s agent Omar Wilkes, the Atlanta Hawks All-Star declined to press charges against the fan.

“We appreciate the Garden’s response to the incident, and Trae’s focus remains on his teammates and Game 3,” Wilkes said.

The spitting came on the same night that Russell Westbrook had popcorn dumped on him by a Philadelphia fan, as the injured Washington Wizards guard limped to the locker room. Westbrook’s incident received more attention, but that’s because he noticed popcorn was being tossed on him, and reacted in the heat of the moment.

While it’s great having crowds changing the game atmosphere by upping the energy, the mistreatment of athletes like Westbrook and Young shows some fans can’t handle sitting so close to the action.

Tags: