Stock Trader Says Yelling "Carmelo, You Stink" at Knicks Game Got Him Ejected, Arrested and Fired

Knicks fan Anthony Rotondi yelled “Carmelo, you stink” in the fourth quarter of a Knicks game on Jan. 7. He claims in a lawsuit against Madison Square Garden this resulted in him being ejected from the arena, arrested and charged with “tampering with a sports contest” and “criminal trespass.”

"Rotondi said he and his supervisor took two clients to the game and sat in four seats owned by ING about four rows behind the basket that was closest to the Knicks bench, according to court filings. Rotondi says he yelled at Anthony in the final minute of the fourth quarter after watching the Knicks give up a 14-point lead and was escorted from his seat with 6.7 seconds left and ejected from the arena."

"Rotondi says he was arrested afterward and charged with tampering with a sports contest and criminal trespass, according to court filings. Police were told by security that Rotondi was ejected for interfering with the game and refused to leave while being escorted from the arena, according to court filings."

He also says he lost his job as a trader at ING Financial Services as a result of the incident. MSG termed the lawsuit frivolous, according to Bloomberg, and is “considering a countersuit.”

If true, the MSG response seems a bit extreme. Such severity is generally reserved for honest critiques of James Dolan’s music.