Just before a playoff game between the Knicks and the Miami Heat on Sunday, there was a loud commotion near a hot dog vendor at Madison Square Garden. A group of Knicks fans saw another Knicks fan and started cursing. Other people turned their heads and cautiously walked away from the group; there seemed to be a fight going on.
But as the fans moved towards each other, clasped their arms and started jumping around, it became clear that this wasn’t going to be a brawl. At the center was Darryl Thompson, wearing a blue custom Knicks jersey with a four-letter word in orange and the name of the Heat’s best player, Jimmy Butler. All the swearing? That was just the fans, uh, reading the shirt’s message aloud.
“I made it,” said Thompson, 37, proudly. “It took about 30 minutes. I immediately came up with an idea and everything. I called some personal people to press it for me. We just made one. We don’t want this floating around.”
Moments like that filled Game 1 on Sunday between the Knicks and the Heat, the first second-round playoff game at the Garden in a decade. During the Knicks’ first-round playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Knicks fans stormed Seventh Avenue outside the arena, climbing poles, dancing and drinking after wins.
But on Sunday, the Knicks lost at home for the first time this postseason, 108-101, after leading by a whopping 12 points in the first half. Seventh Avenue was desolate after that, lined with police officers prepared for a rowdy crowd, but instead saw fans jumping through puddles in the pouring rain as they headed for the train home. Game 2 is in the yard on Tuesday.
Here’s a look at some of Sunday’s fans.
Greg Dell, 48
Underneath Greg Dell’s Knicks hat is his hairless head, which he uses to show people how long he’s been a fan of the team. “Since 12 years old,” he yelled, “when I had her.” The Knicks’ shortcomings during his 36 years of fandom likely contributed to some of the hair loss, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything else, he said. And once you’re 12 years old, he added, you can’t change your team unless you move to a new city.
Dell said it was the most exciting Knicks season he can remember since the team went to the 1999 NBA Finals because they finally feel like a legitimate contender. He said he “threw away” the Game 1 loss and predicted the Knicks would finish the series in six games.
“It’s like dating,” he said. “If you want to find a loyal person – your partner, your girlfriend – ask him about his favorite team. When they say the Knicks, they are loyal. They don’t cheat you. They won’t let you down. That’s us.”
Miguel Garcia, 45
Miguel Garcia and his two brothers, Danny and John, grew up in the long shadows of the Garden at 43rd Street and Ninth Avenue, close enough to hear some of the arena’s noise on game days.
Their first Knicks memory was from Game 3 of the 1999 Eastern Conference Finals, when forward Larry Johnson fouled as he made a 3-point shot and then whipped the ensuing free throw to give the Knicks a 92-91 victory over the Indiana Pacers.
On Sunday, they came into the yard dressed in different colored wigs bought at Party City because they had to “go crazy” for the special day.
“You know, I have no hair, so I had to put something on,” Garcia said.
Francis Vasquez stopped others nearby from talking, seemingly so they could understand the significance of what he was about to say. Vasquez raised one hand as they watched: it was for God, he said, before raising his other hand just below that hand, which he said was for the Knicks.
Greg Dell and Vasquez met at a bar on Sunday after the game, and Vasquez said their relationship was a reflection of what he loved about Knick’s fandom.
“I could feel his energy, and he could feel my energy,” he said, “so that just builds a connection.”
Vasquez grew up in Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, where he built unwavering support for a team that never rewarded him with a title for it. Still, Vasquez said, he would “die for his Knicks.”
“Don’t let us win the championship; it will be a riot that day,” he said. “I’ll probably be locked up that day.”
The Romito family
Leah Romito had never been interested in basketball. But for the past two seasons, her 8-year-old son, Axel, has fallen in love with Knicks forward Julius Randle and guard Jalen Brunson, which also made her a fan. On Sunday, she followed her son’s directions, screaming and cheering as if she’d been born into the Knicks fandom like many others in the Garden.
It was the first game she had been to with Axel. Brunson scored 25 points, but Randle was out with an ankle injury. “It’s sad,” Axel said. “Very sad.”
Lakeisha Reid, 46
Lakeisha Reid paid $1,500 to go to the game with her friend. She said she’s been a Knicks fan since she was a teen, drawn to the excitement that former star center Patrick Ewing, who attended Sunday’s game, brought to her father and people in New Jersey, where she grew up.
Sunday was her first-ever Knicks game, so she planned an eye-catching outfit with shiny blue pom poms for the occasion. “You only live once,” she said, “and I thought, ‘We want to get it right.'”
Reid said she was most surprised by the crowd’s friendliness, which she described as “crazy but polite.” Reid remembered fans yelling at others to sit down and people listening without discussion. A fan switched seats with her friend to make her more comfortable.
“In the north we are known for being a little loud, and sometimes we could be a little loud, but during the game it was just the love from the north, the atmosphere,” she said. “It just wasn’t drama. It was beautiful.”
Bookbag Aviram, 27
Growing up in Westchester County, New York, Satchel Aviram loved the Knicks for as long as he can remember. He especially appreciates the fan base because Knicks fans are loyal through the few ups and the countless downs, unlike Nets fans, he said.
“As soon as the Nets lose, they know it’s over. If the Knicks lose, we know we’re going to fight,” Aviram said. “The team is always behind the Knicks and the city is behind the Knicks.”
Aviram said the rain and gray skies after the loss could have been reflected in gloom among fans, but instead said he felt a positive “electricity” among most fans looking forward to Game 2.
“We’ve been down for so long it’s meant so much to the city that we’re finally fighting,” Aviram said, “and it looks like we’re finally realizing that we can move forward.”