The Knicks have had no shortage of famous faces in the stands this playoff run. But on May 4, one of their most devoted celebrity fans was two miles away, dressed in blue and orange for a very different kind of event.
Christine Taylor spoke at the Cinema Society screening of “Influenced” earlier this week and explained exactly why she and husband Ben Stiller chose fashion’s biggest night over Game 1 of the Knicks-Sixers second-round playoff series. The reason had nothing to do with fashion itself, and everything to do with a promise made earlier.
“We were invited by a friend, so this was an obligation we had committed to in January,” Taylor told, via Page Six. “And, you never know what night [a playoff game] is going to fall on, and he was holding true to showing up for friends.”
She added: “It really was for these dear friends who invited us.”
Both still showed up repping the team. Stiller wore a navy suit with a bright orange tie, and Taylor wore a cobalt blue gown by designer Bibhu Mohapatra, making sure New York basketball was part of the night even if Madison Square Garden wasn’t.
Why Ben Stiller Said He Had No Choice But to Skip Game 1
GettyJalen Brunson
Stiller backed up everything Taylor said when he went on The Pat McAfee Show. He confirmed the invite came three months before the playoff schedule was set, and once the Knicks-Sixers dates dropped, he found himself stuck between a prior commitment and a game he desperately wanted to attend.
“For me, as a fan, I wanted to be at that Knicks game more than anything,” he said. “It’s our friend. We made this commitment. There’s nothing to do.”
He admitted he almost backed out the night before, telling Taylor he thought he’d take heat for skipping. She told him they had made the commitment and had to honor it, so they went. Stiller even watched the game on his phone from inside the event, despite Anna Wintour’s famous no-phone policy.game 3
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GettyJalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns
While Stiller was sneaking peeks at his phone inside the Met, the Knicks were busy making the Sixers look completely overmatched. New York blew out Philadelphia 137-98 in Game 1, a beatdown that set the tone for the whole series.
Stiller made it back for Game 2 and sat courtside alongside Chalamet as the Knicks took that one too, 108-102. Then they went to Philadelphia and won Game 3, 108-94, to go up 3-0.
Game 4 tips off with the Knicks one win away from a sweep. Stiller’s “Knicks in six” call from the Met Gala carpet is already starting to look too conservative.
He missed one game, kept his word to a friend, and came back to watch his team take a stranglehold on the series. At this rate, there may not even be a Game 6 to worry about.
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