SAN ANTONIO – Several viral videos circulating on social media show Spurs fans being attacked following the team’s win in New York Monday night, but a local couple says the aggression was already in the air a day earlier.
Chris and Susan said they experienced the aggression while attending the Yankees-Red Sox game.
“We were verbally harassed by a group of men who were, I guess, Knicks fans, and they looked at us, and they were speaking in Spanish in a mocking tone,” Susan said. “They started circling us and saying, Knicks in 4, Knicks in 4.”
Besides being caught off guard by the incident itself, she said what surprised her was that she and her husband were not wearing anything that referenced the Spurs.
“We were actually wearing Yankees gear,” Knicks said.
Susan, a native San Antonian who lived in New York for 14 years, was in the Big Apple with her husband, who was visiting for the first time.
The couple said they were warned before leaving not to wear Spurs gear, but they packed their Victor Wembanyama jerseys anyway, thinking they would have an opportunity to sport them.
“The first time I heard it, I thought, of course I’m going to wear my jersey, Susan said. “This is a big deal and so what? I’m just as crazy. New York made me that way.”
On Monday, she and her husband said they had not seen anyone repping the Silver and Black despite looking.
That night, they said they planned to attend a watch party in Bryant Park, but when they got to the entrance, the park was already at capacity. That turned out to be a good thing since Susan said the vibe in the air was off.
“We just saw that there was like this dangerous element of, you know, a group of younger people that were looking for trouble, and you could just tell that it was not going to end well for some people,” Susan said. “We knew not wearing our jerseys was a wise choice.”
The couple said they decided to try going to a bar to watch the game, but everywhere was packed, so they eventually went back to their hotel.
On the way back, the couple said they were pleasantly surprised to see a Spurs fan wearing a Tim Duncan jersey.
“I was wearing my Meta glasses, which can capture video and cameras,” Susan said. ”I took a quick picture of him just cause I was proud of him.”
Her husband was also glad to see another Spurs fan but said the fan was walking toward Bryant Park and was worried.
“I’m like, ‘oh my gosh, there comes this guy wearing this jersey,’” Chris said. ”He zoomed past us, and he was heading toward Bryant Park, and I was like, I kind of felt sorry for him because he was headed into a hornet’s nest.”
The next day, they said they saw the same man in the Duncan jersey in a video making the rounds on social media.
The man was being attacked.
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Chris said the behavior of some Knicks fans tainted his New York expectation and a special chance to support the Spurs as they are on the sport’s biggest stage.
“Over there, we can’t wear our jerseys because we know we’re going to end up paying a price for it. That’s sad,” Chris said. “I wish it didn’t have to be that way.”
Spurs fans through and through, the couple said they are calling Spurs in seven. They advise Spurs fans in New York or traveling to New York to be extremely careful if they decide to wear their Spurs apparel in public.
“Trust your instincts,” Susan said. ”Your instincts are usually right.”
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