When Erica Hill, owner of Sparrow Funeral Home in Brooklyn, decided to throw a Knicks watch party for Game 4 of the NBA Finals, she had no idea the internet would react the way it did.
“Never in a million years did I expect that it was gonna go 'mini viral' like it has,” she told Sports Illustrated in an interview on Tuesday. “A lot of people think it’s sort of funny and, obviously, I get that.”
And, in all honesty, Hill was never trying to be funny. In reality, she was (and is) just trying to honor the vulnerability of Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, who has continually paid tribute to his late mother following games in the championship series.
“If you lose a parent ... you just look for signs, and I’ll take any sign I could get,” Towns told ESPN’s Lisa Salters at the end of Game 2, which ended on a blocked Victor Wembanyama jump shot. “Prayed to her strongly before that [last] possession. ... I take it as a sign my mom was there with me, so I appreciate her so much.”
The candid nature of Towns’ comments struck quite a chord with Hill, who strives to destigmatize death and grief as much as possible.
“[I was] thinking about how amazing I thought it was that he is willing to be so open about his grief for his mom,” Hill said of KAT. “We live in a society that doesn’t necessarily want to talk about grief and death and dying cause people get scared or they don’t know really what to say.”
“And I was like, you know what? We should have a watch party really inspired by him and, you know, maybe people in our community would wanna come and all be together to watch the game.”
Hill initially shared an invite via Instagram on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s Game 3. Since then, her creative proposition has gone somewhat viral, with both well-meaning attendees and chuckling onlookers chiming in on socials.
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