Jalen Brunson playing for the New York Knicks in 2024. Photo by Rob Carr via Getty Images
Last week, the New York Knicks found themselves one win away from reaching the NBA Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a quarter century, thanks to a 121-91 blowout win over the Indiana Pacers. Their dreams ultimately did not pan out as they would lose the series in seven, but the motivating factor that propelled the Knicks to the Game 5 might have been a simple as flatulence.
According to Fred Katz of The Athletic, shortly before the Knicks took to the court for Game 5 at Madison Square Garden, an unnamed player unleashed a massive fart in the locker room, which was silent, but deadly. That reportedly motivated the team, and led them to record their best game of the playoffs thus far.
“It was very loud and that was about it,” Katz said on WFAN. “It was loud but proud, is really what it was. The fart was purely audio, [no smell]. When it happened, it strung along for, I would say a lot longer than one might expect for a fart of that volume and in that context. It was [epic].”
Motivation For the Knicks?
Katz would not reveal which player was responsible for the flatulence. However, he did reveal that the entire locker room knew which player it was, but the player denied it with a straight face. That made the locker room laugh.
“A few, a few players looked over, it actually didn’t get a reaction audibly at all,” Katz continued. “It got pure silence and a look over to that one player and that one player looked around as, as if he was being inconspicuous and said with the completely straight face, sums up with the pipes in here. No, that got the huge laugh.”
The fart apparently brought out the best in the Knicks, as they would go on to stomp the Pacers out in Game 5. Jalen Brunson put up 44 points, reaching that mark for the fifth time this postseason. He now has the second-most 40-point playoff games in franchise history, only to Patrick Ewing.
Superior Bondage
It is entirely possible that the fart brought the locker room even closer together than it already is. The Knicks have been playing through this postseason representing the idea that teamwork makes the dream work, as they continue to roll along despite missing prominent pieces of their lineup due to injury.
The ‘Nova Knicks’ of Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo remain the core of the club through its winning ways, as the trio won a championship at Villanova back in 2016, and next year will seek to bring that glory to the Knicks for the first time in over a half-century.
Hey Christopher, this article is awesum and hysterical. I am a big Knicks fan and thought your article rocked. I am a writer with you on the Forkball and tried to get in touch with you on Slack, but couldn’t connect. Great work man!
Thank you for the comment, Jamie! I was never informed that The Forkball has a Slack channel for writers. If you could inform IW Moon or the host of the Slack channel to share the invite with me via email, that would be greatly appreciated.