It was a troll job that cut deep.
ESPN couldn’t help but show a disheartened superfan Spike Lee sitting courtside as his Knicks were en route to a 130-109 Game 7 loss to the Pacers, and Indiana’s social media team had some fun with the clip after the game.
In a post on X right after the Pacers advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday evening, the team got one more shot at the Knicks before it was all said and done.
The clip showed Lee sitting in his seat with his hands on his face and a sad look in the director’s eyes.
The broadcast caught Lee with just over five minutes left in the game and the Knicks down 116-102.
The social media post was a clip of that accompanied by the person shrugging emoji.
The Knicks lost Game 7 130-109 at Madison Square Garden, ending what had been a magical run for the Knicks, who had been looking to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000 — when they lost to the Pacers
With the Knicks and Rangers runs through the playoffs, it has drawn plenty of comparisons to 1994, when both teams reached their respective sports’ championship round.
The Rangers won the Stanley Cup that year and the Knicks lost in the final to Houston, but the Pacers and Lee played a big part in the narrative around the 1994 playoff run.
The Knicks superfan became synonymous with that series against the Pacers when he seemed to inspire a Game 5 performance due to his ongoing trash talk that egged on Pacers star Reggie Miller.
Madison Square Garden had provided a home-court advantage during the series this year up until Sunday, when the banged-up Knicks ran out of gas.
With the team already dealing with several injuries, Jalen Brunson fractured his left hand during the loss as well.
