Source: Nic Antaya / Getty
Holiday parties are one of the few times you get a chance to meet your coworkers’ partners, and the Knicks took that opportunity to pose for a couple of photos.
The moment was soured after
Twitter hyperfocused on the team’s players being in interracial relationships, as the Black players were all paired with white women.
The photo shows Knicks player
Jalen Brunson with his fiance Ali Marks,
Julius Randle and his wife Kendra Shaw, and Obi Toppin’s girlfriend, Magdalena Bellinger. Meanwhile, the last couple in the photo includes Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a Ukrainian shooting guard who’s the only one in the photo boo’d up with a Black woman.
Love Black America Web? Get more! Join the Black America Web Newsletter
We care about your data. See our privacy policy.
The photo was posted by the
New York Basketball account, which is unaffiliated with the iconic team that calls Madison Square Garden home. However, the Twitter account is verified and constantly pays homage to the team by posting throwback pictures of legendary players and regular team updates.
The holiday party photo hasn’t even been published for a full 24 hours and already has over 20,000 likes and over 7,000 quote retweets, many of which are critiquing the interracial relationships and mentioning Dr. Umar.
“I feel bad for black men. They can’t date who they want without getting harassed,” writes one user sympathizing with the way people are going to react to
Others are praising Mykhailiuk for having a Black partner, with comments like, “Svi needs to play more minutes…NOW!!!”
As for their on-the-court play, the Knicks are barely 500 on the season as they sit in sixth place in the east, just two spots below cross-town rival the
Brooklyn Nets with 14 wins and 13 losses.
See how Twitter’s reacting to the Knicks holiday party picture below.
