Take it from American institution Martha Stewart: Never wear open-toed shoes to an NBA game.
Stewart, 84, sat courtside at the New York Knicks‘ Game 1 against the visiting Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals last May. The Pacers won 138-135 in overtime, but Stewart left Madison Square Garden with a bigger problem. Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson, 29, had broken her toe.
“I have the Brunson fracture,” Stewart said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last December. “He stepped on my big toe. That’s why I’m wearing open-toed shoes, because it’s the only kind of shoes I can wear now. He broke my toe. It was like in the last five minutes of the game with the Pacers, and then they went into overtime, which made it even more painful because I couldn’t get up and leave to go take care of my toe.”
Stewart continued, “I knew it was broken immediately. He sat on my lap, too. He comes crashing down, sits on my lap.”
Last week, Stewart joined Brunson and Knicks guard Josh Hart on their “Roommates Show” and addressed the toe fiasco with Brunson. They replayed Stewart’s clip from The Tonight Show, and Brunson watched it with his hand on his face.
Hart asked Brunson whether he had apologized to Stewart, to which he said, “I did.” Stewart said, “Yeah, he sent me a basketball, too, for my grandson.” Brunson shared he had talked to Stewart on FaceTime and apologized then.
“You didn’t know,” Stewart said. “It’s not your fault. It’s my fault for wearing open-toed shoes.”
Brunson said he doesn’t remember the incident, but Stewart recalled, “You jumped up really fast, and I remember saying to you, ‘It’s okay.’ You had no idea that you had hurt me. I didn’t say you hurt me. But I said, ‘It’s okay.’ It wasn’t okay at all.”
Stewart said she went to Dr. Rock Positano at the Hospital for Special Surgery on the Upper East Side, where they named Stewart’s injury “The Stewart-Brunson Fracture.” She left Brunson with a copy of her X-ray. She said her foot has since healed, and now, she looks back on it “as something silly, stupid, and funny.”
“I don’t feel too great,” Brunson said.
“Have you broken anybody else’s toes?” Stewart asked.
“No, not that I know of,” Brunson said.
Elsewhere on Stewart’s full “Roommates Show” episode, Stewart admitted Brunson and Hart “wouldn’t want me for a coach” because she “would be so mean.” Stewart also brought print-outs of photos she’s taken at Knicks games, bonded with Hart over the Hamptons, provided insight into her upcoming autobiography, and more. Watch it here.
Brunson leads the Knicks in scoring (26.2 points per game) and assists (6.7 per game). The 48-26 Knicks hold the third seed in the Eastern Conference with eight games remaining in the regular season.
The NBA playoffs start on April 18. If Stewart supports the Knicks at MSG, she might want to consider steel-toe shoes.
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