If you ever feel bad about being a New York Knicks fan, just know that Ben Stiller is suffering alongside you. That might help to ease the pain a bit.
A week after RJ Barrett appeared on JJ Redick and Tommy Alter’s Old Man and the Three podcast, Stiller was a guest.
The Knicks superfan has stuck with the team through thick and thin. He attends games and even when he isn’t sitting courtside in Madison Square Garden, he’s still watching and voicing his opinion on Twitter, even when a certain team got swept in the playoffs.
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) April 26, 2022
The New York City native was alive for the Knicks’ two championships in 1970 and 1973. So while Stiller got to at least enjoy that aspect of fandom as a young child, the road since then has been full of more disappointment than hope.
After all that he’s experienced, New York’s No. 4 finish in the Eastern Conference in 2020-21 was a pleasant surprise. The end to the eight-year playoff drought was a thrill, but looking back, Stiller feels as if it made the 2021-22 season that much more painful.
Ben Stiller discusses his New York Knicks fandom on JJ Redick’s podcast.
Redick asked Stiller what it’s like to be a Knicks fan and how he would describe that experience, to which he replied:
"“I’m literally at the point in my life where I’m thinking at the age I’m at, by the time I’m 65 we might actually have something going on. I’ll be in my mid-60s by the time this team rebuilds. Maybe it’ll happen a little sooner, I don’t know, but it’s hard. It’s not something that you choose. Who would want this pain? Who would want to feel that frustration? Because they pull you in, they have these moments in time where you think something is happening and then it just gets thrown back in your face.”"
The former NBA player then asked Stiller if he felt that same way last season and part of his response included:
"“After this year, you want to say, well last year was bad because then this year happened. But we have to look at last year and go, last year happened and there was an amazing season of winning and playoffs. Playoffs were awful, but it happened. It was great. I loved it, but it made this season way worse. And maybe the pain that I’m feeling now almost makes what I felt last year not worth it.”"
If you’re a true fan of New York, everything that Stiller said resonates in your soul. The Knicks made being a fan worth it in 2020-21, but then returned in 2021-22 to rip that feeling into a million pieces.
The fanbase is one of the most passionate and loyal ones in all of the NBA, which is another point that Stiller touched on.
When the team is doing well, the entire city simply feels different. People are happier. There aren’t boos raining down on New York’s players (ie: Julius Randle). Fans are screaming their lungs out on the sidewalk in front of Madison Square Garden. It’s beautiful.
Hopefully, the excitement of knowing that the Knicks are playing well can become a consistent thing, not something sporadic. And come on, Stiller’s 56-years-old, please don’t make him wait another nine years before the “rebuild” is over. Personally, year 57 or 58 sounds much better.
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