Sports
Heckling fan can’t stop Knicks anthem singer — much to Karl-Anthony Towns’ delight
The show must go on.
The national anthem singer during the Knicks’ 125-101 win over the Hornets on Thursday at Madison Square Garden paused to glare at a heckling fan and powered through to finish her rendition, much to the delight of star center Karl-Anthony Towns.
The singer, who goes by Liceli, had just sung “…and bright stars, through the…” when the rogue fan made their presence known by screaming something indecipherable via the MSG broadcast.
Liceli, wearing a blue No. 24 Knicks jersey, then stopped and turned her head to the right, shooting a look in the direction of the interruption.
She then continued while the crowd rallied around her, with Towns flashing a wide grin amid the crowd’s support.
A fan — it’s hard to tell if the same one — yelled out again moments later, but Liceli did not stop again.
She finished to a strong reaction from the crowd and waved.
Liceli’s Instagram account did not mention the heckler as of Friday morning, but included several pre-performance stories and one of her on the court captioned: “umm n e ways… here i am!”
Her backstage.com profile says she is in the 18-20 age range and hails from New Haven, Conn., and has performed as a solo artist at Radio City Music Hall.
Towns and the Knicks had reason to smile throughout the night while they tallied their fourth straight win, including their second against the Hornets in a span of seven days.
The former Kentucky star led all players with 27 points and 16 rebounds, and six Knicks finished with double-digit points.
The Knicks (14-8) ran away with the game in the third quarter to turn to a three-point halftime lead into a 103-78 blowout before the final stanza.
They will have a chance to push their streak to five when the lowly Pistons come to town Saturday.