WWE star Danhausen has drawn attention during the New York Knicks' postseason run, with some fans asking whether the "very nice, very evil" performer has been the unlikely MVP of the franchise's push toward its first NBA title since 1973.
The story traces back to April, when the Knicks trailed the Atlanta Hawks 2 games to 1 in the first round. Justin Starr, a 33 year old Long Island native who hosts the wrestling podcast "The 10 Count," reportedly worried that Danhausen's feud with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith, a Knicks fan had left the team cursed after back to back one point losses.
Starr said he spent $137.50, tax included, on a Cameo asking Danhausen to uncurse the Knicks.
"I was talking to my two buddies and I'm like, guys, like, I gotta do something about this," Starr recalled on Friday. "We lost two games in a row by one point, Danhausen had cursed Stephen A., who is a Knicks fan, and I worried the team was caught up in that. So I saw Danhausen had his Cameos open, and I'm like, I think I'm gonna pay Danhausen to uncurse the Knicks. Then my one buddy said, 'Well, I think you should unless you don't want to watch sports this summer,' and five seconds later, I purchased the Cameo."
Danhausen (real name Donovan Andrew Danhausen) sent Starr an uncursing Cameo video that later picked up steam on social media. The Knicks reportedly 13 straight games afterward and lost only once since that video circulated. Entering Saturday night's Game 5 against the San Antonio Spurs, the Knicks stood one victory away from the championship.
Danhausen was reportedly invited to Madison Square Garden during the run. Starr, who works mornings as a FedEx Express courier and afternoons at his family's butcher shop, Scott's Five Star Meat Center in Commack, N.Y. has adopted the alter ego J-Starrhausen through the saga.
