MSG
The Knicks are around a week away from playing their first meaningful basketball game since losing in the Eastern Conference Finals earlier this year. However, two of their fans were already in regular-season form after treating us to an unreal tic-tac-toe showdown during a preseason game.
Most sports teams have a team of employees who are tasked with dreaming up ways to keep fans engaged and entertained during breaks in the games that serve as the main attraction at their stadiums and arenas.
If you’ve attended a sporting event, you’ve probably gotten sucked in by a shell game on the Jumbotron or yelled out an answer to a fan who’s been tasked with answering a trivia question to earn the right to take home some swag.
There are also certain activities that allow some lucky spectators to showcase their athletic prowess, which is the case with the tic-tac-toe games that have become a staple at a number of venues that are home to NBA teams.
Those showdowns have led to some strange moments, like the time two fans at a Blazers game treated us to a truly baffling showdown that went viral for all of the wrong reasons.
There was also an unfortunate incident that unfolded at a Hawks game last season when one of the spectators taking part blew out their knee while going up for a layup.
Thankfully, the two people who went head-to-head when the Knicks hosted the Wizards in a preseason tilt on Monday night were slightly more competent.
Two Knicks fans competed in a tic-tac-toe game that set the bar for every other one
The Knicks played their penultimate game of the preseason on Monday while falling to the Wizards by a score of 120-103.
It may have been a largely forgettable contest for the home team, but the same can’t be said about the tic-tac-toe game between two fans named Khristian and Ghedalia that unfolded midway through the second quarter.
The concept was pretty straightforward: each guy got the chance to place an “X” or an “O” on the board after making a layup, with the first person to get three in a row receiving $500.
Ghedalia got the initial edge by securing the center square with his first “O,” but it seemed like the momentum had shifted back in Khristian’s favor as his opponent fumbled the basketball while attempting his second layup. However, Ghedalia rebounded before they both raced for the deciding slot in the bottom left corner that he secured by laying out in order to earn the victory.
Two Knicks fans have a Tic Tac Toe game for the ages with $500 on the line pic.twitter.com/qMPEI31v5U
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) October 14, 2025
Well done.