The New York Knicks won a basketball game on Saturday night. You would not know that from the celebrity section, where grown, famous adults behaved like the building was on fire and the only exit was a group hug.
The Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 to take the series 4-1 and their first NBA title in 53 years. The clincher happened in Texas, which did nothing to keep New York’s loudest fans in their seats.
Timothée Chalamet, a four-time Oscar nominee who has lost best actor two years running, found a camera on the floor and set his priorities straight. “Way rather this than the Oscars,” he said. Minutes earlier he was in the locker room telling Jalen Brunson, “you did that bro.”
Ben Stiller, who has spent the Finals filming the whole run on his iPhone, left with a trophy of his own: head coach Mike Brown’s dry-erase whiteboard, carried out of the arena like contraband. “As happy as I’ve ever felt,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing.”
Spike Lee, a season ticket holder since 1985, when his first game was Patrick Ewing’s first game, spent the final buzzer hugging every human within reach. After the Game 4 comeback, Mariska Hargitay had already set the bar. “I love my husband, and our wedding night was great and all,” she told The Hollywood Reporter, “but I think it might have been the greatest night of my life.”
Stephen A. Smith called it “the best feeling I’ve had in my life covering sports.” Flavor Flav brought the Noize. Bruce Springsteen ended a Tribeca Festival set with “Go Knicks.” Barack Obama and Donald Trump congratulated the same team on the same day, which might be the rarest thing that happened all night.
The parade is Thursday in Manhattan. Expect Stiller, and his swiped whiteboard, to be right in the middle of it.
