Call a New Yorker—any New Yorker—and ask them how things are going. They’ll all tell you the same thing, even the Staten Islanders and people from New Jersey who claim the city as their own, as if everyone there has slipped into some kind of Pluribus hive mind: We’ve got Knicks fever. And there ain’t no prescription for this disease.
But, if you’re a Knicks fan living outside the city right now, the FOMO is almost unbearable. Because this is more than just a playoff run. It’s one of those rare cultural moments New Yorkers will still be talking about 30 years from now.
“I wish you were here for the playoffs” my Uncle Jeff wrote me in a text message. “It’s electric here.”
Yeah, me too, Uncle Jeff. Me too.
Since I couldn’t be at the historic Game 4 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, I’ve spent today trying to piece together what it actually felt like inside the arena and out on the streets of New York. I’ve been calling friends, family, and the celebrities who have taken on the role of Knicks mascots to talk about how they gained entry into the world’s most famous arena, how much they paid for tickets and what it was like once they were there.
Jake Shane— born and raised in Manhattan— was sitting in a box with Tate McRae and Hailey Bieber when the Knicks clawed their way back from 29 points down. “It felt like I was witnessing history,” Shane told me, recalling how even the ushers and concession workers stopped what they were doing to watch the comeback. By the time OG Anunoby hit the dagger with 1.2 seconds left in the game, Shane said he “fell to the damn floor,” overcome by the delirium spreading through the arena and eventually out into the streets of Manhattan, where “every single person” seemed to be living through the exact same moment at once.
Mariska Hargitay was seated courtside for Game 4 alongside Taylor Swift and two of the HAIM sisters—who were all wearing custom Knicks shirts designed by Alana Haim featuring musician-themed puns like “Steve Knicks” and “Knickelback.” She said the madness at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday hardly felt real. “The best part of the videos and memes from last night is that I can say, ‘THAT REALLY HAPPENED!! And I was there!’ I don’t know if I’d believe it if I didn’t have proof.” Hargitay wrote to me. For her, the comeback transcended basketball entirely. “Last night wasn’t about basketball. It wasn’t even about sports. It was about life—and what it means to do battle for your dream,” Hargitay said.
DJ and New York-native Samantha Ronson flew to San Antonio for Game 1 with her brother—producer and lifelong Knicks obsessive—Mark Ronson. “I don’t have kids, I haven’t been married,” she told me. “It was the best night of my life.” Then came Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks came back from what felt like a “400-point” deficit, according to Ronson. “If you’re a Knicks fan, nothing matters till the fourth quarter,” she said. “You don’t leave.” By the final minutes, Ronson said people around her were crying, and she had forgotten to breathe. “Of course I believed it,” she said. “Because it’s the Knicks.”
