JR Smith is speaking out after fans mobbed him at Madison Square Garden following the New York Knicks Game 1 of the NBA Semifinals Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers.

While JR was leaving the stadium, fans were excited to see him and surrounded him, which ultimately led to the two-time NBA champion falling down. He jokingly recalled the incident as he asked fans to pull him up from the ground.

“This society is so bad everybody just got their phone out. I’m like ‘Yo pull me up!’” JR told Michelle Beadle, Lou Williams, and Iman Shumpert on FanDuel’s Run It Back.

JR Smith talks Knicks fans mobbing him after the Game 1 win 😂🤳

“This society is so bad everybody just got their phone out. I’m like ‘Yo pull me up!'”@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @TheRealJRSmith | @imanshumpert pic.twitter.com/8YX3ZSdVvm

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) May 5, 2026

While it didn’t end well for JR on Monday night, the fans were excited for the Knicks beating the 76ers 98-137 in their first playoff game against each other. It was obvious with the Knicks performance that they were playing as a solid unit last night to which Jalen Brunson credited their work throughout the regular season.

“That’s why you play a season,” Brunson said per ESPN. “That’s why you go through adversity. You find things to make you the best team as possible by the end of the year. And even at this point, you find ways to get better and improve.”

“There’s never a time when you look back and say, we’re good now, we don’t have to continue to work and continue to get better,” Brunson said. “It’s not the case at all.”

The Knicks made NBA Playoff history with having a combined 135-point differential over a four-game span. While they could bask in their feat, it’s clear with Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns that the work is still not over.

“You said last 4 games? Keyword is Last Doesn’t have anything to do with Next…Stay locked in,” Towns said to media in the post-game.

The Knicks and 76ers will be heading back to MSG tomorrow night (May 6).

JR Smith is speaking out after fans mobbed him at Madison Square Garden following the New York Knicks Game 1 of the NBA Semifinals Playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. While JR was leaving the stadium, fans were excited to see him and surrounded him, which ultimately led to the two-time NBA champion falling down.