Pat McAfee has been the biggest Pacers hype man throughout this historic playoff run. During Game 4 of the Conference Finals, he sent the Indiana crowd into a frenzy by calling out several renowned Knicks celebrity fans in attendance at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, including Ben Stiller, Timothee Chalamet, and Spike Lee. “Let’s send these sons of b—— back to New York with their ears ringing. Let’s turn this s— up!” While Pat’s impromptu speech worked that night as the Pacers won that game, his antics unfortunately backfired during tonight’s Thunder clash.

As tonight’s Game 4 went back and forth, McAfee was once again handed the mic to hype up the crowd in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. With his team leading by three points, the former Indianapolis Colts star dished out a WWE style promo, “Even though we’re up 2-1 in the series with home court advantage coming into tonight’s game, the Oklahoma City Thunder were favored to win the NBA title. Coming into tonight’s game, Oklahoma City was favored by six and a half points! That makes us the biggest underdogs in the history of the NBA Finals. That tells me that the sportsbooks don’t know! Stephen A. Smith doesn’t know!”

Sure enough, his energetic speech left Gainbridge roaring as Pacers supporters set their eyes on another victory. McAfee continued, “Thunder will find out when you come to this state, not only are you playing the best team in the damn league, you’re also taking on the greatest fanbase in the history of sports.” His closing statement hyped up the Indiana crowd even more.

However, in a wild twist, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. sparked a miraculous comeback following Pat’s speech. They outscored the Pacers 31-17 in the final quarter to blow them out by seven points, sucking the air out of the arena. And the frustrated Indiana community immediately began blaming the NFL legend for their heartbreaking loss.

Pat McAfee accused of jinxing the Pacers in Game 4 as ESPN analyst calls him out on Live TV

Soon after the Pacers blew their lead and lost, calls began mounting against McAfee. Comments like “Pacers let Pat McAfee have the in-arena Mic and immediately lost the lead” and “Pat McAfee really jinxed the Pacers” began flooding in. One netizen even deemed it “The Pat McAfee curse.”

Well, it sure seemed like his fourth quarter speech, as much as it hyped the Indiana crowd, motivated the Thunder even more. As the game went on, OKC took complete control. Obviously, it was Shai who led the charge with his dominant 35-point performance. While McAfee’s presence has worked in Pacers’ favor so far, it backfired tonight, as one fan pointed out, “ngl I thought the pacers lost that game when they gave Pat McAfee a mic.”

Meanwhile, Pat also received a stern response from one of his ESPN colleagues. Although he called out Stephen A. during his mid-game speech, he was called out by former Thunder star Kendrick Perkins. “By the way, Pat McAfee, in OKC, we don’t need nobody on the mic to get them hyped. They’re gonna be hyped. That building is gonna be rocking.” The ESPN analyst said, warning McAfee and the Pacers as the series heads back to OKC for Game 5. Hyped by Big Perk’s response, one netizen even predicted a wrestling match between the two at an upcoming WWE PLE, “Kendrick Perkins just called out Pat McAfee See you at Summerslam.”

Following tonight’s outcome, this series is anybody’s for the taking. But one thing is certain. It’s shaping up to be a treat for the fans as they are witnessing two elite young teams go head-to-head in what could potentially be a historic seven-game NBA Finals. Do you agree?