Knicks indefinitely ban fan who spit on Trae Young

The Knicks announced that the fan who spat on Trae Young has been indefinitely banned from Madison Square Garden.

"We apologize to Trae and the entire Atlanta Hawks organization for this fan's behavior," the Knicks said in a statement. "This was completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our venue. We have turned the information over to the appropriate authorities."

A heated but ultimately civil rivalry between Young and the fans at MSG emerged during the first two games of the series between the Hawks and the Knicks. Fans directed multiple chants at the third-year point guard, including references to him balding, while Young happily gave it right back to the fans, even getting to shush them after he hit the game-winning basket in Game 1.

However, one fan crossed the line in the fourth quarter of Game 2. The unidentified spectator spit on Young. The incident was not noticed by Young in the moment, but a video of the spitting circulated online, with people expressing outrage at the fan's behavior.

This was only one of the fan bans that occurred after Wednesday night's games, as a 76ers fan was banned by the team after dropping popcorn onto Russell Westbrook's head. With the two incidents happening on the same night, there is mounting pressure on the league to keep player safe, and the league has vowed to do so with an "enhanced" code of conduct for spectators.