Comparing Knicks 2026 Chaos To Detroit 1990 Riot

Earlier this month, the New York Knicks went on a dominant playoff run that featured 13 straight wins, an average margin of victory of 15 points, and comebacks from double-digit deficits in 6 games, including trailing every game of the Finals. Their most incredible win was a stunning 29-point comeback. Their Championship win after 53 years would have been crazy on its own, but doing it in such dramatic fashion sent Knicks fans into a frenzy.

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As in, a fiery frenzy. Five school buses were set on fire, windows were smashed, and car hoods were ripped off, and a total of 63 people were arrested.

The desire to destroy things while celebrating is something I don't understand, but this chaotic celebration is reminiscent of an NBA Finals celebration 36 years earlier, when the Detroit Pistons won their second straight Championship. It was a night of chaos, destruction, and, sadly, death.

Detroit On Fire: Pistons Back-to-Back Championships

The date was June 14th, 1990, in Portland, Oregon, as Vinnie Johnson sank a long-range 2-pointer to lift the Pistons over the Trailblazers, 92-90, to win their second championship in a row. Even though the Pistons were in Oregon, the fans in Detroit got right to celebrating... if you can call it that.

According to the New York Times, eight people died in total:

Four people were killed after a car drove through a crowd, three of them children.
Two others, one a young boy, were also hit by cars.
One man, in a prime example of a celebration gone wrong, died from falling after attempting to light a Roman candle off his roof.
A teenager died after someone fired a gun into a crowded parking lot.

In total, eight people lost their lives, and 141 others were arrested while the city of Detroit wreaked havoc in the name of celebrating, making this one of the worst sports-related riots in history.

Not everyone behaved this way, but any loss of life is enough to have this considered a tragedy.