NEW YORK — For most New York Knicks fans, the team’s playoff run produced memories, photographs, and perhaps a commemorative T-shirt.

For one executive, it allegedly produced a sudden and overwhelming desire to own a municipal trash can.

Angie Báez, a New York Knicks fan and executive at JPMorgan Chase, reportedly found herself at the center of an unexpected career transition after video surfaced showing her emptying a city trash can onto a sidewalk and then walking away with the container itself during the Knicks championship celebration.

Witnesses were reportedly stunned by the incident, although not nearly as stunned as the sanitation workers who eventually had to deal with the pile of garbage left behind.

The video quickly spread online.

Because, as history has repeatedly shown, if you’re going to commit an incredibly questionable act in public, the modern internet strongly recommends doing it directly in front of dozens of people holding smartphones.

In the footage, Báez can allegedly be seen enthusiastically removing a mountain of trash from a special blue-and-orange Knicks-themed trash receptacle before departing with the can itself.

Observers noted that most parade attendees limited themselves to collecting souvenirs such as hats, banners, photographs, and memories.

Báez apparently looked at a city-owned garbage container and thought:

“Now that’s a collector’s item.”

The strategy may have seemed promising in the moment.

Unfortunately, municipal property tends to have a very inconvenient habit of belonging to the municipality.

The New York City Department of Sanitation was not impressed.

Officials noted that dumping trash onto a public street and then removing public property are generally frowned upon activities. They further suggested that performing both acts on camera represented a level of confidence not commonly associated with successful decision-making.

Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase reportedly launched an investigation after the video began circulating online.

The investigation appears to have reached a conclusion with remarkable efficiency.

A company spokesperson later confirmed that Báez was no longer employed by the bank.

Career experts say there are many ways to leave a prestigious executive position.

Retirement is one.

A promotion elsewhere is another.

Developing a viral reputation as “the person who stole a trash can” is generally considered less desirable.

What makes the story particularly remarkable is that the alleged theft was reportedly worth far less than the salary of the executive accused of taking it.

In other words, a professional with access to boardrooms, corporate leadership opportunities, and a six-figure career allegedly looked at a public garbage can and concluded:

“Mine.”

As of this writing, the trash can may have achieved something few pieces of sanitation equipment ever accomplish.

It became the most expensive garbage can in New York City.

Not because of what it was worth.

But because of what it allegedly cost.

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