The New York Knicks just won their first NBA Championship in more than fifty years, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, Timothée Chalamet lived it up. The superfan, along with many other celebrities and former players, flew to San Antonio to watch the Knicks close it out, and after the game, he celebrated on the court and in the locker room. The videos of him having the time of his life are currently making the rounds but none more so than one where he says he’d rather watch his favorite team win than take home the elusive Oscar himself.
The comment in question seems to have happened just minutes after the final whistle. Chalamet is on the court, and he turns to an ESPN camera and says, “Way rather this than the Oscars, come’on baby. Knicks are champions, baby.” It’s unclear if the cameraman asked him which one of those things he cares about more or if he preemptively made the comparison himself. You can watch the video below and try to gauge his intentions by the atmosphere and his tone of voice…
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The interesting thing about Chalamet is that he’s historically been much more open about chasing greatness in the acting profession than most of his peers. He’s consistently said he wants to do great work and wants to be remembered as one of the all-time greats. So, he definitely cares about acting and accomplishing all he can, which assumedly includes winning Oscars. He’s been nominated three times for Best Actor in his short career but has taken an L each time.
That being said, even if what he said was true, it’s not necessarily a shot at the Oscars. It may just be a commentary on how much he loves the Knicks. He attends a high volume of games every season and routinely talks about deep cut players and random moments from the past in interviews. He’s about as hardcore of a fan as you can get, and he may just live and die with the team on a more emotional level than how he interacts with work. As a huge sports fan myself, I definitely get that.
Regardless, there’s no raining on Chalamet’s parade right now. He was quite clearly having a blast during the game, having a blast on the court and having a blast in the locker room. Perhaps the only time he wasn’t having a blast was when he accidentally got champagne in his eye during the celebrations. Video of that moment, of course, is also hilariously making its way around the internet…
"i'm not an athlete, usually i have a stunt double to do that" — Timothée got his eyes burnt out after the champagne shower 😭 pic.twitter.com/MKNBIA7ppvJune 14, 2026
Chalamet is, of course, far from the only celebrity Knicks fan in his glory right now. Huge stars like Adam Sandler, Tina Fey, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Taylor Swift and Mariska Hargitay were seen at Madison Square Garden throughout the team’s run to the title, and a ton of big names like Tracy Morgan, Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, John Turturro, Sydney Sweeney and Giancarlo Esposito made the trip to San Antonio to join Chalamet in watching the team win. I assume at least some agree with Chalamet and would rather watch the Knicks win than take home an Oscar, though I'm not sure how many will be bold enough to say it out loud.
