ESPN anchor Pat McAfee pricelessly referred to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as “some very rich guy” after the billionaire was nearly crushed in the crowd when Knicks guard Jose Alvarado leapt into the stands chasing a loose ball.
“Alvarado’s sitting on some very rich guy,” McAfee joked on the alternate broadcast of Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
“Oh, that’s Mayor Bloomberg!” he quickly added after realizing who the courtside fan was.
Pat McAfee said Knicks guard Jose Alvarado is “sitting on some very rich guy” — former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. ESPNFront-row tickets to the game at Madison Square Garden Monday night were selling for tens of thousands of dollars.
“That’s one of the founders of Bloomberg Business I believe, he was the mayor, I believe he’s worth a billion or two, and just had Alvarado in his lap.”
Bloomberg is in fact the richest person in New York City, with an estimated net worth over $100 billion.
After Alvarado landed directly on the 84-year-old billionaire in his courtside seats, he could be seen chatting with Bloomberg to make sure he was ok, and the former mayor seemed in good spirits, even flashing a thumbs-up at a referee who came by his seat to check on him.
Comedian and Knicks fan Dave Chappelle even walked over from his own courtside seats to check on the ex-politician, who was seated right near Yankees legend Derek Jeter and former Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg had a cheeky response to the run-in with Alvarado.
“Great to meet NYC’s homegrown star, @AlvaradoJose15. But next time, Jose, just call me. Let’s go Knicks!” he wrote on X.
The Knicks went on to lose 115-111 in the team’s first NBA Finals appearance since 1999.
