Timothée Chalamet says New York Knicks claiming NBA title is better than winning an Oscar

· Yahoo Sports

Three-time Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet claimed he would rather see the New York Knicks win an NBA championship than get an Academy Award himself after his hometown team ended a 53-year title drought.

Visit palladian.co.za for more information.

“Way rather this than the Oscars,” the actor told ESPN moments after the Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals on Saturday. “Come on, baby. Knicks are champions, baby.”

The Knicks closed out the series 4-1 and ended a title drought stretching back to 1973.

Chalamet was nominated for the best actor Oscar in 2018 for Call Me by Your Name, in 2025 for A Complete Unknown, and this year for Marty Supreme.

The actor, 30, was a familiar courtside presence during the Knicks’ play-off run, even skipping this year’s Met Gala to watch the team before travelling to San Antonio for the title-clinching finals game.

After the final buzzer on Saturday, Chalamet was seen embracing players on court, including Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns.

The celebrations continued inside the locker room, where Chalamet joined players for the traditional champagne spray. In footage shared by ESPN, someone offered him protective goggles typically worn during post-title celebrations. Chalamet declined, joking: “I don’t deserve them. I’m not an athlete.”

He added: “Usually, I have a stunt double do that.”

Chalamet was joined for the title-clinching game in San Antonio by fellow Knicks loyalists including Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and Tracy Morgan. Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Mariska Hargitay, and Taylor Swift were among supporters who followed the finals from courtside seats in New York.

Timothée Chalamet said he would ‘way rather’ see the New York Knicks win an NBA championship than win an Academy Award himself (Getty)

Stiller, speaking after the win, said he felt “as happy as I’ve ever felt”. Hargitay had earlier described the dramatic Game 4 comeback by the Knicks as “the greatest night of my life” after her wedding.

The championship carried particular weight for New York fans as the Knicks hadn’t won an NBA title since defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in 1973 and had not even reached the NBA Finals since 1999, when they also lost to the Spurs in five games.

The long-awaited victory sparked celebrations across New York, with fans gathering outside Madison Square Garden and across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, chanting “Let’s go Knicks” as fireworks lit up the sky and car horns blared through the night.

Public watch parties had drawn large crowds throughout the finals, including in Bryant Park, where about 5,000 fans gathered for earlier games.

Knicks captain Jalen Brunson delivered the decisive performance, scoring 45 points in Game 5 and earning the Finals MVP award.

“I have no words,” he told the ABC. “I don’t know what I’m feeling. I’m in awe, I don’t know. Whenever someone counted us out, we found a way to come back and do something about it."

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani quickly announced on X that the city would be celebrating the win with a ticker-tape parade next week.

“Parade. Thursday. Manhattan,” he said.

“For more than 50 years, New Yorkers have waited for this moment,” Mamdani added in a statement. "Through near misses, heartbreak and a hope that every year could be our year, this city never stopped believing in the Knicks. And this team fulfilled that hope with grit, resilience and heart — just like the five boroughs itself.”

Read full story at source