A few NBA fans got out of pocket on Thursday, May 26, 2021, including one in New York’s Madison Square Garden who spit on the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young during their playoff battle against New York.
Video and photos show an unidentified fan spitting onto Young — and got some on himself in the process — during game two of the Hawks-Knicks first-round playoff duel at the Midtown Manhattan basketball palace.
Young, 22, who was born Rayford Trae Young in Lubbock, Texas, about 350 miles west of Dallas, was unaware at the time that he’d been assaulted with someone’s mouth germs. It took place with about eight minutes left in the 4th quarter of a tight game.
Young had drawn the ire of Knicks fans after he single-handedly defeated the Knicks in game 1 with a last-second shot. The budding superstar then held up his index finger to his mouth to quiet the Knicks crowd after they’d been chanting “f—- Trae Young” throughout the contest.
Armed with this brewing anger at Young, and probably coupled with some liquid courage, the fan sitting behind 50 Cent unfurled a stream of saliva at Young.
Later on, after being made aware of the assault, Young did shoot this tweet:
Damn… Crazy ! @50cent y’all good?!
😂😂😂 https://t.co/p8jSbwyozT— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) May 27, 2021
Joy Taylor of Fox Sports “The Herd” talk show indicated that Young decided not to press charges.
However, the fan was immediately escorted out of MSG and is banned from the facility indefinitely.
“We investigated the matter and determined that this patron, who is not a season ticket holder, did indeed spit on Trae Young,” the team announced Thursday in a statement obtained by ESPN.
The Knicks added that the video evidence has been turned over to the New York Police Department.
