One of the most iconic moments in the history of the NBA came at the start of the 2000-01 season, when a Houston Rockets fan took over the court at AT&T Center and chanted, “Houston!
Houston!”
During that same season, a New Orleans Pelicans fan took down the home team, New Orleans Hornets.
In fact, fans of the New York Knicks have had a long history of chanting for a team they believe is better than the one they have just left.
So when the Knicks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers last night, they came out to their home crowd of nearly 2 million people, chanted “We’re gonna be OK” and then proceeded to beat the Clippers for the second time in three games.
It was one of the loudest games of the season.
In 2017, Knicks fans sang the Knicks’ song “All Star,” the same song the New Orleans fans sang earlier in the game, and then when the game was over, the Knicks sang “We Are the Champions” over the Knicks logo.
But there was a small, but growing, contingent of Knicks fans that took to Twitter to voice their displeasure at the fans singing the Knicks song.
After all, there are a lot of Knicks, and a lot is made of the fans of New York.
But what is a Knicks fan to do when they can’t sing the Knicks music, or can’t chant the Knicks songs, or have to watch Knicks games from the comfort of their own home?
A small group of Knicks fan took to the social media platform and began posting a series of tweets about the loudness of the Knicks fan chants, and how the Knicks fans could just as easily be the New Yorkers singing the chants.
For those of you not familiar with the story behind the fans loudest chant, here’s a little bit about the Knicks that you probably already know: New York’s nickname originates from a chant of the city’s first coach, John McGraw, when he was fired in 1939, after he was found to have had affairs with a number of women.
After McGraw was fired, he returned to his hometown of Syracuse to take over as coach of the Syracuse Red Claws, a team that went on to win two titles.
But after a tumultuous season, and several off-court scandals, including one involving a group of young male college players, McGraw returned to Syracuse in 1942.
After playing only six games in that season, McGrew returned to coaching the Syracuse Warriors.
After another four seasons, he was forced to resign from coaching the Warriors because of the sexual harassment scandal.
After serving his prison sentence, he decided to return to coaching and eventually took over as head coach of Syracuse.
During the 1962-63 season, the Syracuse fans had a great time and beat the Brooklyn Nets to win the league title, but then came a series against the Dallas Mavericks that was played at a basketball court in Dallas, which was a popular spot for Knicks fans to watch games.
In the series against Dallas, Knicks fan, David “Sandy” Smith, took the court and sang the team’s song “We are the Champions.”
Smith was eventually fined $500 and sent home after he made the statement, “I ain’t no pussy.”
The next season, after the Mavericks won their first four games of their next-to-last season, Smith was arrested for disorderly conduct after the song was heard by a large group of fans at the game.
The Knicks fan who sang the song, and was also charged with disorderly conduct, was sentenced to a year in jail.
Smith and the fans that sang the Mavericks song were eventually sentenced to jail time, but they never served time for their actions, as the NBA suspended them for one game each.
However, the fans’ behavior was not considered as a crime in the eyes of the league, as Smith was not a convicted felon, but was just a regular fan of the team.
So the fans who sang that Mavericks song, were actually in a legal position to continue singing it.
After the Knicks won two more games in 1963, the New Jersey Devils fans began to chant the team name in unison.
The chants started to become louder and louder and more loud, and eventually the entire arena was chanting the name.
The New Jersey fans would later be fined for their loud, but not offensive chant.
Smith was eventually released from prison after serving his sentence, and would eventually return to playing for the New Zealand Warriors, who would be playing in the finals of the Rugby League World Cup.
He would also return to coach New Zealand in the 1980s, and be inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame in 1993.
After Smith’s final game as head basketball coach, the arena was once again singing the New Knicks song, but this time the noise had become so loud that it caused the fans to stop singing altogether.
After the game against the Washington Wizards, the fan who had sung the song took