A Five Guys restaurant in New York City became the site of a violent incident this week after an employee was attacked by a group of individuals, apparently over his choice to wear a San Antonio Spurs jersey during the 2026 NBA Finals. As detailed by the Daily Dot, footage of the incident circulated widely on social media, showing the restaurant interior in disarray, with furniture overturned and debris scattered across the floor as bystanders filmed the chaos on their phones.
The employee was in the middle of his shift when the group entered and began the assault. People online quickly condemned the attack, with one user on X writing, “Going after [an] employee simply because he likes the opposing team (…) disgraceful.” Another posted, “Knicks fans waited 20-plus years for a decent playoff run just to celebrate by turning Five Guys into a war zone and jumping a worker over a jersey,” before adding, “Win with dignity or don’t win at all.”
The Five Guys incident was not the only attack connected to the series. The NYPD is also investigating a separate incident involving a 39-year-old Spurs fan who was assaulted around 12:17 AM on June 9, 2026, while walking back to his hotel in Midtown Manhattan. A group of unidentified individuals surrounded the man, punched and kicked him, and forcibly removed his Spurs jersey. As of June 10, 2026, no arrests had been announced in connection with that attack.
Post-game unrest has extended well beyond the arena
The NYPD released surveillance photos of five individuals wanted on robbery charges in connection with the Midtown assault, according to ABC News. The broader atmosphere in the city has been tense throughout the series.
Following the Knicks’ loss in Game 3, crowds flooded the streets, and at least 21 people were arrested in the immediate aftermath. Eight faced charges including assaulting police officers, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing, resisting arrest, and obstructing governmental administration, while 13 others received criminal court summonses for disorderly conduct after getting into fistfights or jumping on cars and taxis.
The unrest has created friction beyond street incidents. A planned fan watch party outside Madison Square Garden for Game 3 was canceled because President Donald Trump was in attendance.
Knicks owner James Dolan later announced the cancellation of the watch party planned for Game 4 outside the arena, following a public disagreement with city leadership over crowd control plans and capacity limits. Garden officials had objected to a 1,000-person cap on the event, with Dolan calling the restrictions an effective move to turn the surrounding streets into a police state.
In a radio interview on WFAN, he went as far as calling the mayor and police commissioner “party poopers.” The cancellation came amid separate reporting on Mayor Mamdani’s own Game 3 attendance, where he paid nearly $1,000 for a standing room ticket.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a statement on social media on June 9, 2026, calling for calm. “This is a historic, joyful moment for our city,” he said. “We will not allow it to be disrupted by violence.” The tension around fan behavior at live events has also surfaced elsewhere recently, amid a separate incident in which Morgan Wallen threw a fan’s phone across the stage at a Pittsburgh concert during his Still The Problem tour.
The NYPD has not confirmed whether the Five Guys attack is being investigated separately or as part of the broader pattern of post-game unrest.
Published: Jun 12, 2026 12:00 pm