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WATCH: Knicks Star's Interview Interrupted By Yankees

The New York Knicks star couldn't get through his postgame comments without keeping his eye on the World Series.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Sep 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Knick guard Josh Hart throws out the first pitch before the game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
Sep 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Knick guard Josh Hart throws out the first pitch before the game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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New York Knicks forward/guard Josh Hart was in full playoff mode on Friday.

His Knicks were only playing their second game of the 2024-25 season but Hart was fully invested in the New York Yankees' ongoing World Series activities, to the point his postgame comments were interrupted by the dramatic final stages of the opening contest.

By the time Hart spoke after the Knicks' 123-98 win over the Indiana Pacers, the Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers were in the latter stages of the eighth inning. Hart's relatively jovial demeanor following a big win turned into horror when he caught a glimpse of a Shohei Ohtani hit that fell just short of a home run but put the tying run in scoring position.

Josh Hart
Sep 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Knick guard Josh Hart throws out the first pitch before the game between the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

“Oh it’s off the wall, it’s off the wall. That’s okay, that’s okay,” Hart said before noticing that second baseman Gleyber Torres (whom Hart mistook for shortstop Anthony Volpe) mishandled the relay throw from Juan Soto. “Dang, (Ohtani) looks slow. That’s all right ... Oh, what are you doing?! Come on man! Come on Volp!”

Hart's support of the Yankees is hardly a surprise considering his familial connections with the team: his great-uncle Elston Howard was the first African American to wear pinstripes and his No. 32 is immortalized and retired in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. In September, Hart was invited to Yankee Stadium, where he threw out the first pitch prior to an American League East showdown against Baltimore.

MSG Network's Alan Hahn sympathized with Hart, remarking that it was "difficult to focus" with all the championship activity in the city. Less than 24 hours after the WNBA's New York Liberty celebrated their first postseason championship in both Brooklyn and Manhattan, the Yankees officially began their quest for a 28th World Series title at Dodger Stadium.

Yankee fever invaded the Knicks' home opener on Friday as chants in support of the Bronx Bombers broke out after Giancarlo Stanton hit a two-run home run that gave New York a 2-1 lead. The home run was later played on Madison Square Garden's videoboard, much to the delight of the pro-Yankee crowd.

While Hart briefly partook in the cheering and got distracted in the postgame scrum, he didn't let the Bombers' antics deter him from the task at hand: the third-year Knick posted a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double as New York crushed Indiana to earn a sliver of revenge for last year's futile postseason matchup. The Knicks (1-1) led by as much as 33 before Hart and the rest of the metropolitan starters were called to the bench early.

World Series
Nick Woodard, the assistant manager of Lids inside the Mall of Victor Valley, holds up a Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees hat with World Series patches after receiving a shipment on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. / Jose Quintero / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Unfortunately for Hart and his fellow Yankee supporters, Ohtani came home to score on Mookie Betts' sacrifice fly, tying the game at two. In an extra inning, Jazz Chisholm scored on a Volpe fielder's choice to give the Yankees the lead back but Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam with two outs gave Los Angeles a 6-3 victory. The Dodgers later won 4-2 in Game 2 on Saturday night to go up 2-0 in the best-of-seven set.

Monday is set to be one of the busiest on the New York sports calendar: Hart and the Knicks are hosting the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG) while the World Series moves to Yankee Stadium for Game 3 (8 p.m. ET, Fox). The full slate also features the NFL's New York Giants, who face the Pittsburgh Steelers in this week's edition of ESPN's "Monday Night Football."

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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