“Glad You Made It Out Of The Jungle Alive”: NBA Star Tyrese Haliburton Offers To Fly Out Indiana Pacers Fan and NY Firefighter Who Was Attacked By 100 Knicks Fans
Everyone was wondering who the brave Indiana Pacers fan was that was being followed and accosted by a mob of celebratory and overzealous Knicks fans following the team’s game-clinching win over the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics on Friday night.
The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks will meet in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in over two decades. Emotions were high outside of Madison Square Garden.
Knicks fans catch a pacers fan wearing a Tyrese Halliburton jersey and tried to rip it off of him. pic.twitter.com/gbTLjuVVtO
— The Lactose Tolerant Black Man (@TLTBM) May 17, 2025
Indiana Pacers Fan Hans Perez Appears On Pat McAfee Show After Being Chased By Knicks Fans After Game 6
ESPN’s Pat McAfee sent a search out for unidentified man who seemed to get swallowed up in a sea of angry Knicks fans before the viral video cut off.
On Monday, McAfee introduced New York firefighter Hans Perez to the sports world. He happens to be a New York resident but is a life-long Pacers fan who put it all on the line for his team in enemy territory.
“Who was the man willing to stare down 100 people in the street of NY just days?” McAfee asked before introducing Perez.
“I’m a good man, how y’all doing I made it out,” said the Pacers fan of the Year.
“Was this a rage bait type thing? Are you a Pacers fan?” asked McAfee being that Perez is a born and bred city kid.
“I’m a Pacers fan for life” Perez announced. “They got my heart when I was kid, and I just stuck with them. When I was a kid I loved Reggie Miller, O’Neal, (Ron) Artest, Stephen Jackson, and the Pacers. Then Danny Granger came along, Then Paul George came along. I love the Paul George Pacers, The (Victor) Oladipo Pacers. Now we’re here with the Haliburton Pacers. Haliburton Pacers are going to get those Knicks. We gotta get em’.”
New York Firefighter Hans Perez was chased by an aggressive mob of more than 100 Knicks fans for wearing an Indiana Pacers jersey outside of Madison Square Garden after the franchise clinched a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1999 on Friday.
What Happened To New York Firefighter Hans Perez Outside Of Madison Square Garden?
McAfee was curious as to what was going on in Perez’s had as this all unfolded.
Perez said: My in-laws live roughly 20 blocks away, by West 50th street, I was dropping the kids off. My daughter had a basketball tournament the next day. I couldn’t make it while I was working. So my in-laws were taking them. I said, ‘you know what I’ve been wearing my Pacers jersey all playoffs long. I haven’t gone by Madison Square Garden with jersey.'”
“I didn’t know if I should go into the mob, but I’m going to go close by, feel the energy, and get ready for the series. Make the series even better when the Pacers beat the Knicks. I want to feel this. I want to feel this,” Perez explained.
Hans also tells McAfee that he had tickets for Game 7 last season, when the Pacers sent the Knicks home for the summer. He says he wore the Pacers jersey to that game, but it didn’t ruffle as many feathers as it did on Friday night after the Knicks clinched a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Mob Of 100 NY Knicks Fans Try To Snatch Jersey Off Indiana Pacers Fan Hans Perez
McAfee asked Perez if he was scared. Perez was alarmed, but not terrified, saying, “At first it was like dudes just talking smack to me. It was a little fun, then it started getting a bit more handsy. Dudes wanted the jersey. The jersey got to come off. I start to get a little nervous. I’m looking, like where’s the nearest police. Who’s going to save me?” Perez said while laughing in retrospect.
Hans Perez, a New York City Fireman and Indiana Pacers Fan, who was chased by a mob of Knicks fans, shows his Pacers tat on the “Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN.
He says the mob kept getting “bigger and bigger” and he kept walking. He didn’t want to start running and get tripped, making the situation worse.
“Let me just tell you guys to calm down, chill, the series hasn’t started yet,” Perez says he told the mob to keep them at bay until he could find a way out.
Perez says he was pushing guys’ hands off his jersey and blocking attempts by ravaging Knicks fans to rip his Pacers jersey off, before producing it and proudly holding it up for McAfee and others to see.
Perez was pushed, attacked, had trash bags thrown on his head while being pursued by a mob of 100 or more people. He took it all in stride like the true New Yorker he is and kept his composure, living to tell his story and taunt the Knicks and Knicks fans.
NBA StarTyrese Haliburton Offers To Fly Perez & Plus 1 Out For Game 4 In Indiana
Little did Perez know that his allegiance to the Pacers while growing up in New York would earn him some substantial facetime on a huge ratings show like Pat McAfee as well as a surprise meeting with Indiana Pacer star Tyrese Haliburton, who joined the show to deliver some news.
Perez almost couldn’t contain himself when Haliburton appeared on the split screen.
“I’m glad you made it out of the jungle alive. I’m glad you’re still here with us,” jokes Haliburton.
“I feel like I’m going to war with you guys,” Perez replied.
Haliburton had some special plans of his own for Perez.
“Speaking of going to war with us. I want to personally bring you out here to come to Game 4. I’ll put you and a plus one up and give you guys seats for the game. Everybody in the organization is eager to meet you. That’s all we have been talking about. Everybody has seen the video. So, we want to bring you out here.
That’s a hectic, crazy time. I appreciate you showing love to the organization. That means the world to me. That video I was shocked I couldn’t believe what I Was seeing but we found you and hope to meet you in the next week.”
Hans Perez holds up Indiana Pacers jersey that a mob of 100 Knicks fans tried to snatch off his back to avail. The Pacers will meet the Knicks for a trip to the NBA Finals. Pacers star Tyrese Halliburton wants to fly Perez in for Game 4. (Screenshot/Pat McAfee Show)
Perez couldn’t commit right away because his duties as a firefighter have some strict work rules, but he did say he is sure he can work something out with “the fellas” at the firehouse and be there to root his Pacers on. Even though he’s totally considered a turncoat by his hometown. Guys like Perez are truly what fandom is all about.
