Anthony Donahue describes himself as the biggest New York Knicks fan in the world and it’s hard to argue with that claim. Donahue, who goes by AnthonyMSG on social media, is a fixture at Madison Square Garden and has been for more than 20 years, cheering on the Knicks through the good and bad.
Many basketball fans on social media will be familiar with Donahue. He has 50,000 followers across Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter) where he posts updates on the team and photos of himself cheering them on at the iconic Madison Square Garden.
Donahue’s intense fandom started in the 1993 playoffs when the Knicks took on the Indiana Pacers in the first round. That was not only the start of his fanaticism, but also the birth of a fierce rivalry between the two teams who faced off in six playoff series across the 1990s.
“I just fell in love,” said Donahue in an exclusive interview with the Bronx Times and amNY. “I liked the Knicks before then but that series, when John Starks head butted Reggie Miller, man I became officially obsessed. I went from ‘I like the Knicks’ to ‘the Knicks are my entire life.’’
The native New Yorker —who has lived in the Bronx for his entire life barring a period where his family moved to Walton, New York— made his first visit to see the team in person not long after on April 2nd, 1994. Donahue watched the Knicks beat the Miami Heat and that started a legendary run for the super fan.
Starks, the 6-foot-5 guard who never lacked confidence, caught Donahue’s eye with his swagger and highlight-reel plays. When Donahue played basketball, he would emulate Starks’ three-pointers and chest-pounding. It’s fitting then that it was Starks who ended up kickstarting Donahue’s career in the sports media scene.
Donahue interned at ESPN radio in the early 2000s after graduating high school, creating relationships with people inside the Knicks organization which are still useful today. When he later started his own radio show, putting up the money for the time slot himself, he ended up in an elevator with Starks and took the opportunity to ask for the legend’s phone number. Starks handed it over and was Donahue’s first guest on his show.
Today, Donahue doesn’t have a radio show but he reaches fans in other ways. His content gets tens of thousands of views and he also organizes special game-day experiences and watch parties. The first event he ever hosted was a “Bring LeBron to the Knicks” party during the famous 2010 summer when the star was a free agent. That grew into watch parties for all types of games, often at local bars with the occasional Knicks legend stopping by.
He’ll host a special MSG game-day experience, which starts hours before tip-off, several times per year. He’ll take a group of fans, sometimes up to 100 or more, to a nearby bar or restaurant for snacks and drinks before the game. They’ll then go to MSG where they’ll watch warm-ups and the contest, sometimes even getting to step on the famous court to shoot a free throw postgame.
“The coolest thing about my events is that every event —let’s say there are 100 people— you have regulars that come, you have first-timers,” Donahue says. “You have people coming from Australia, Germany, London, all over the world that have come to my events because they’ve seen it on social media.”
“I know two people who met at one of my events like eight years ago, they got married. They’re married! They met at one of my events.”
Donahue has been at almost every home game since 2001. The Knicks have been a constant throughout his life, during both the good and bad times. In 2020, his sister Gianna Gregoire tragically passed away after a fight with brain cancer. He says that going to games was helpful in his grieving process.
“To this day, when I’m at Madison Square Garden, all the troubles in my life don’t even matter,” he says. “When my sister passed away almost six years ago now, going to the Garden is so therapeutic, especially that first year or two after she passed. When I was at the Garden, nothing mattered but being there and that helped me get through so many tough times.”
For this year’s playoff run, Donahue has a new fan to watch with. He’s a new dad as his daughter was born just six months ago. While she’s still a bit young to fully understand what she’s watching, she tunes into the games and is lucky to already be watching the team in the playoffs.
“It’s amazing,” Donahue says. “She’s six months old, she doesn’t know what’s going on but she always watches the games with me…I love watching with her. I didn’t take her to a game this year because it would be more for myself so I think I’ll take her next year but I can’t wait to take her to the Garden.”
