Timothée Chalamet’s Enthusiasm for the Knicks Is Contagious

Say what you want about Timothée Chalamet, but he is a fanboy. He loves Bob Dylan, he loves Xbox controllers, he loves Luca Guadagnino, and he loves the New York Knicks. As the Knicks have ascended through the Eastern Conference Finals, Chalamet has been there, courtside, standing and shouting and freaking out along with all the other fans inside Madison Square Garden, at a bar, or watching at home in their living rooms. In many ways, he is all of us.

Chalamet is not the first celebrity sports fan, and the Knicks boast a handful of well-known courtside spectators, most famously Spike Lee, but there is something special about Chalamet’s continued enthusiasm for the New York Knicks. His rambunctious courtside behavior reads like most of what Timmy does as way too much, but his over-the-top fervor is even more endearing than his A Complete Unknown press tour.

Most of the time we see celebrities at a sports game — especially sitting courtside — they’re hanging out, chilling, flirting with whatever celebrity they brought with them, or smiling for the Jumbotron. Not Chalamet: He is up on his feet, he is yelling at the refs, he is kissing his girlfriend Kylie Jenner on the mouth when the Knicks score. He ditched the Met Gala to watch the Knicks. This isn’t a game to him.

Between the Dune memes (“Ball” Atreides) and nearly being pulled out of a car, Chalamet has lent a much-needed spark of joy to this year’s NBA playoffs. The New York Knicks may lack a mascot, but they’ve got an obvious contender. It ought to be Chalamet, who throws his body around during the games as though he were in a giant animal costume. When my team (the Denver Nuggets) got eliminated, I considered packing it in for the season. Why bother watching when my guys were out of the mix? I happened to be at a Brooklyn bar during the final game in the Knicks-Celtics series, and everyone erupted into cheers when the broadcast cut to Chalamet in his seat, geeking and grinning for the camera. That alone is the price of admission, so to speak. You don’t have to know the names of the players. You don’t have to know who the Knicks are playing. You just have to know that Chalamet will be there, having the best and worst time of his life. He isn’t just having fun; he’s made it fun for everyone — even those of us who would never consider rooting for the Knicks in the first place. Onstage at the SAG Awards, Chalamet said he wanted to be one of the greats. If nothing else, he’s proven himself a great fan.

Related

• A Spontaneous Chat With Spike Lee at Cannes About the Knicks and Numerology
• Timothée and Kylie: A Timelinée