The New York Knicks have won their first NBA championship since 1973, and longtime fans Spike Lee and Timothée Chalamet were on hand to watch their team secure the long-awaited title.
Both Lee and Chalamet were shown celebrating on the court after the Knicks’ 94-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5. Chalamet was seen hugging Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns and proclaiming to ESPN’s SportsCenter, “way rather this than the Oscars,” after the acclaimed actor has failed to win the best actor Academy Award two years in a row.
Towns also shared an emotional embrace with fiancée Jordyn Woods, who brought her lucky orange purse with her to Game 5. Earlier Saturday, Woods told The Hollywood Reporter that heading into that night’s game she felt “excited” and “nervous” but was sending out “positive vibes and energy” ahead of a potential championship-clinching Game 5.
And though she and Towns are planning a wedding, she wasn’t sure how they’d celebrate an NBA championship win.
“We’ve literally just been living moment by moment,” she said. “The highs, you don’t want to get too high; you don’t want to get too low; you just want to stay humble. We’re not thinking too far ahead; we’re just thinking game by game.”
The win, which took place in San Antonio, Texas, wasn’t as celebratory as it would have been if the Knicks had won on their home court at Madison Square Garden as the Frost Bank Center arena mostly full of Spurs fans quickly cleared out after the final buzzer.
Still at watch parties in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, New Yorkers were cheering at the long-awaited victory.
Longtime Knicks superfans Lee, Chalamet, Tracy Morgan, John Turturro and Ben Stiller, who’s been filming the team’s Finals run on his iPhone, made the trip to San Antonio for Game 5, as they did for the first two games of the series. Knicks stars Walt “Clyde” Frazier, part of the 1973 championship team, and Patrick Ewing were also on hand for the Knicks victory. Other stars spotted courtside during the finals include Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Pete Davidson, Adam Sandler, Jay-Z, Jimmy Fallon, Michael J. Fox, Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld, Mariska Hargitay and, in Game 4, Taylor Swift.
Hargitay, a fervent Knicks fan and close friend of Jalen Brunson, sprinted to Madison Square Garden for Game 4 after two performances of Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway. And she couldn’t contain her enthusiasm about that comeback win.
“I love my husband, and our wedding night was great and all, but I think it might have been the greatest night of my life,” Hargitay told THR in a statement. “The game was so brutal, down 29 at the half, but I’m telling you, to watch this team fight and claw their way back — to see that look in Jalen’s eyes — there are just endless life lessons in there. And then OG comes flying in, his orange and blue cape fluttering behind him, and then it’s just pandemonium. It‘ll get replayed again and again, not just as an epic moment in basketball, but on the highlight reel of the best moments in sports. And all I could think was ‘THAT JUST HAPPENED!!!’ And ‘OH MY GOD, I LOVE THIS TEAM!!!’ And ‘OH MY GOD, I LOVE THIS CITY!!!'”
After hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy into the air, Knicks owner James Dolan said of the long-awaited win, “Hey, New York, I’m sorry it took so long, but here we are and hopefully it won’t take that long again!”
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced shortly after the Knicks’ victory that the team’s championship parade would happen Thursday in Manhattan.
The NBA Finals appearance was the first for the Knicks since 1999, which incidentally was also against the Spurs and saw the Knicks lose to San Antonio in Game 5.
The Knicks, who led the series against the Spurs 3-1 going into Game 5, made the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history in Wednesday’s Game 4, winning 107-106.
Ahead of Game 5, New Yorkers across the city were decked out in their Knicks finest, sporting jerseys, merch and, in some cases, just orange and blue attire.
Even New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen got caught up in the Knicks spirit, ending his brief performance at the Tribeca Festival in Lower Manhattan on Saturday with “Go Knicks.”
Read on to see how Hollywood stars and public figures are reacting to the Knicks’ win.
“WAY RATHER THIS THAN THE OSCARS!” 🔥
Timothée Chalamet hyped for the Knicks title 🏆 pic.twitter.com/DL94Aw6V9b
Congratulationz to the NEW YORK KNICKS,,, alwayz proud to be a New Yorker and y’all did New York proud. Letz GOOOOOO ,,, Bring the Noize#NewYorkKnicks #Knicks pic.twitter.com/hdBCXVGuzD
KNICKS IN FIVE! What a team and what a season. To our world champion @nyknicks: you’ve made all New Yorkers so proud.
NY Knicks did their thing.. Congrats 🍾 WorldChampions
THE NEW YORK KNICKS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS!!!!
