There’s no doubt that Game 4 of the NBA Finals was eventful: flagrant fouls, blunders, a game-winning tip, and a 29-point gap that created two very different histories for each team. And that’s not even counting celebratory brawls and Knicks fans ambushing the Spurs at the hotel. That said, there is another controversy bubbling, and that has led to demands for an NBA investigation. 

Here’s what happened: Following the New York Knicks’ 107-106 comeback victory over the San Antonio Spurs, a specific in-game incident has caught attention. A viral video reportedly shows Karl-Anthony Towns involving fans in a play when Dylan Harper was trying to inbound the ball. The alleged involvement of fans led to a bad pass, and the Knicks benefited from it. It goes without saying that dad Ron Harper was unhappy.

“The @NBAOfficial has no control over fans or players crazy,” he wrote on X, responding to reporter Dov Kleiman’s post.

Kleiman had originally posted a video of the incident and wrote: “New footage has surfaced of Karl-Anthony Towns asking Knicks fans courtside to move closer to Dylan Harper as he tried to inbound the ball on the final play of the game. Harper threw a bad pass, and the Knicks won because of it. This should be illegal.”

The audio doesn’t confirm what Towns said to the fans. But if the player indeed urged fans to step closer to disrupt Harper’s throw, it would violate NBA rules that explicitly state fans are strictly prohibited from entering the playing area or interfering with players.

Regardless, after Harper’s throw, which was towards Stephon Castle, was tipped by Towns, Castle was forced to make a difficult shot over New York’s Josh Hart. Unfortunately, the player wasn’t quick enough as time ran out. And that’s how the Knicks ended up winning the game.

It is possible that had Harper had more space for clear movement, his throw to Castle could have ended up as a dunk or open layup.

No wonder many from the basketball world are urging the league to investigate this, even if its impact on the series might not matter at this point.

Not everybody disagrees with Karl-Anthony Towns’ actions

Two angles of fan-taken videos show the moment before the Spurs lost the game. Trailing by one following OG Anunoby’s putback, the Spurs entrusted the 20-year-old Harper, who had been impressive with a 21-point performance off the bench and has shown good production all series, to inbound a potential game-winning lob pass from the left of the court to Stephon Castle in the paint.

The rest was history. However, there are people who think KAT was quite smart in his approach.

Sam Oshtry, a basketball reporter, shared one such take on the incident: “Great spot. Very smart by KAT. Harper could’ve asked the ref for more space. Also smart to have KAT on the ball. If this pass isn’t tipped, it’s probably a Spurs bucket.”

Maybe the Spurs rookie, who was actually there when KAT was apparently maneuvering the fans around him, knows best what happened. But Harper hasn’t commented on it yet.

If it is true, it’s a violation of the NBA rules that state that spectators can’t be involved, whether the player is in or out of bounds.

The specifics, though, are a gray area where spectator interference rules blur with home-court advantage. It’s not entirely uncommon. Apparently, Charles Barkley once flew in a heckler to distract Michael Jordan.

Regardless, the NBA is also investigating the Spurs for a similar incident in Game 1. That’s why Ron Harper is demanding an NBA investigation.