Ben Stiller Slams Pat McAfee's Knicks Game Comments
Hollywood stars have been showing out for the New York Knicks games over the past few weeks, but it's safe to say that no one on celebrity row has been doing it quite like Ben Stiller, Timothée Chalamet, and Spike Lee.
At least one of the trio of native New Yorkers has been present at nearly every game of the Knicks' run to the Eastern Conference finals, bringing with them next-level enthusiasm, great fits, and occasionally some super famous friends (Kendall and Kylie Jenner, I'm talking about you).
And while most fans appear to be loving the dedication, it seems Ben, Timothée, and Spike weren't made to feel so welcome when they visited Indianapolis earlier this week to watch the Knicks take on the Indiana Pacers in front of their home crowd.
At the beginning of the game, sports pundit and Pacers fan Pat McAfee took a moment to do some trash-talking, taking aim at the 'bigwigs from the big city' sitting courtside. Hyping up the home crowd, he yelled into the mic: 'Spike Lee is here. Ben Stiller is here. Timothée Chalamet is here. Let's send these sons of bitches back to New York with their ears bleeding!'
As you'd probably imagine, each name was met with increasingly intense boos from the Indiana crowd. While we all love a bit of playful trash-talk in sports, this felt a little mean-spirited — and it seems Ben agrees.
Responding to a video of the moment on X, Ben replied: 'Yes. Weird. We were happy to be there and cheer our team and other than that Indy fans were awesome,' adding in another response: 'No bitterness at all Indy fans were amazing good win for you guys.'
Replying to another fan who said that Pat's moment 'pissed [them] off so much,' Ben further explained his confusion, also emphasizing that he still had a great time. 'He must be playing around - if it's an actual point of view it seems a little anachronistic or cliche?' he wrote of Pat. 'Like we are 'big city celebs' and we shouldn't be there in the heartland? 😂Again, everyone we met was awesome and incredibly cool.'
Before long, Pat caught on to criticism from people calling him 'classless' and spoke out to set the record straight. 'These guys are all front row, they're a part of the show,' he said on his show on May 28, admitting that 'sons of bitches' was perhaps not the best term he could've picked. 'I would like to let them all know, mad respect for coming out. Mad respect for the amount of support they're showing the Knicks. All love.'
And for what it's worth, Ben cleared the air from his side, too, suggesting that Pat ought to come to Game 5 at Madison Square Garden later today.
All's well that ends well, but let's just see who takes the W tonight…
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Time for a change as coach Thibodeau told to Knick off
Tom Thibodeau just took the New York Knicks to the NBA's Eastern Conference finals, the deepest play-off march in 25 years for a franchise that re-emerged as a contender after he became their coach. For that, he was fired. The Knicks made what they called a "difficult decision" to move on from Thibodeau on Tuesday, believing it was a necessary step in their chase for a championship. "We can't thank Tom enough for pouring his heart and soul into each and every day of being the New York Knicks head coach. He led us not only with class and professionalism for the past five seasons, but also to tremendous success on the court with four play-off berths and four play-off series victories," team president Leon Rose said in a statement. Thank you, Coach Thibodeau. — NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) June 3, 2025 "Ultimately we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward. Tom will always be a part of our Knicks family and we truly wish him nothing but the best." The Knicks were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 on Saturday night, falling two games short of their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999. Axing the coach is a strange decision by the Knicks, who had been one of the league's worst franchises for most of the 2000s until Thibodeau was hired in 2020. He led the Knicks to the play-offs in his first season, winning his second NBA Coach of the Year award, and they have been solid contenders in recent seasons. They gave Thibodeau a three-year contract extension last summer. Their big breakthrough came in 2024-25, when they knocked off defending champions Boston in the second round to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000, when Thibodeau was an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy. Thibodeau faced criticisms that his hard-driving style and over-reliance on his starters wore down his players, the same ones who have followed him since the beginning of his head coaching career in Chicago. But his ways seemed to be working in New York. The Knicks hadn't won a play-off series since 2013, but now have done it in three straight seasons. They went 50-32 in 2023-24 and followed that with a 51-31 record this season. Thibodeau grew up as a Knicks fan in Connecticut, before joining the organisation as an assistant coach in 1996. He went on to help the Boston Celtics win the 2008 NBA title as an assistant, earning a reputation as one of the league's top defensive minds, before finally getting a chance as a head coach with the Bulls in 2010-11. He went 62-20 in his first season, earning his first Coach of the Year award. Thibodeau, who spent five seasons with the Bulls and also coached Minnesota, is 578-420 as a head coach.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Knicks superfan Ben Stiller 'grateful' for work fired Tom Thibodeau did in New York
A prominent New York Knicks fan is feeling sentimental in the wake of the team's decision to fire coach Tom Thibodeau. Actor Ben Stiller was one of several notable people that shared their thoughts about the firing on social media. He thanked Thibodeau for the coach's contributions to the organization. Advertisement "I am a Tom Thibodeau fan. He brought this team back. I felt he gave every bit of himself and was always looking to improve. I will always be grateful for how far he brought the Knicks. They are relevant again. They are championship contenders again. The Knicks became winners again with him," Stiller wrote. "Thank you Coach Thibs." The Knicks are known for having a plethora of celebrity guests at Madison Square Garden, and it was turned up a notch during the Eastern Conference finals series against the Indiana Pacers. However, Stiller has consistently been spotted courtside at New York home games throughout his career. In these playoffs, which saw the Knicks make their way to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000, Stiller was frequently spotted sitting alongside fellow superfan Timothée Chalamet. The two were in attendance for Game 4 of the series in Indianapolis when they became the subject of a rant from former Colts punter and sports media giant Pat McAfee. Advertisement The Knicks lost the series in six games to end the season, and Stiller got a playful jab from Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton following Game 6. Prior to the contest, Stiller commented: "Good thing he brought his duffel for the flight to NY" in response to a video of Haliburton walking into the arena, indicating the series would go to Game 7 in New York. After Indiana won, Haliburton responded: "Nah, was to pack y'all up." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ben Stiller shares thoughts after Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
New York Knicks head coaching candidates: Who should replace Tom Thibodeau?
When the New York Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau Tuesday, it came as another reminder of the harsh reality of life as an NBA head coach: Teams often decide that the head coach who got them there isn't the one to get them to the end. The Knicks made that decision after they lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, their longest playoff run in 25 years. The next Knicks coach, whoever it is, will be expected to help take the team further, especially after the front office went all-in last offseason with trades for Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns. Advertisement So who will be the next Knicks head coach? Here is, in alphabetical order, a list of potential options that could make sense, based on which coaches are currently out of a job or could make the jump from the assistant ranks: Bliss is the lead assistant with one of the league's top organizations, the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he helped devise the team's stout defense. He is already receiving head-coach consideration. Bliss interviewed for the head coaching vacancy in Phoenix, where he was one of the final five candidates. Bliss also has ties to New York, spending time with the Knicks during the Derek Fisher and Jeff Hornacek tenures as a player-development coach. Bliss went back to OKC in 2019 and has since worked his way up the bench. The 47-year-old New Orleans Pelicans assistant had a short but relatively successful run as the Hornets head coach. He won 43 games in his last season there, before Charlotte got blown out in a Play-In game. Those 43 wins are still the most the franchise has had in a season since 2016-17. Borrego has been a candidate for the Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers jobs in recent years and seemed to almost land the latter one. But he's never been in a position quite like the one he would find himself with the Knicks, aside from three years on the bench working for Gregg Popovich in San Antonio. Bryant, who was on Thibodeau's staff from 2020-24, is currently a finalist for the Suns head coaching job along with Jordan Ott. Bryant's name popping up with the Knicks wouldn't be a shocker. He left New York before this season began for the Cavaliers, where he reunited with All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, with whom he grew close when the two were both in Utah. Bryant has the stamp of approval from the current front office. When he first joined the Knicks five years ago, it was executive vice president William Wesley who pushed for Bryant's hire. Advertisement Brown, who the Sacramento Kings fired shortly into this past season, has won wherever he's gone. A former Gregg Popovich assistant, Brown began his head-coaching career atop the LeBron James Cavaliers, helping the squad to the NBA Finals in 2007. Once James left for Miami, Brown took the job with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he coached a playoff team then famously got fired only five games into the next season, the one when the Lakers acquired Dwight Howard and Steve Nash but failed to meet massive expectations. Brown has since stopped back in Cleveland, been a sidekick to Steve Kerr during the Golden State Warriors' dynasty and helped take the Kings to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. GO DEEPER Mike Brown's final days with Kings: Disastrous play, tension with star and an awkward firing He spent nearly six full seasons on the bench in Memphis before the Grizzlies fired him with nine games to go this season. Jenkins had a successful run there. He made the playoffs three times and would have this year if he made it through all 82 games. He's still just 40 years old and it wasn't that long ago that he was seen as one of the NBA's brightest young coaches. But Jenkins' time in Memphis ended poorly, even though he got an extension in 2022. The Grizzlies seemed to stagnate this season and there was word that players in the locker room had tuned him out. In some way, Jenkins' circumstances as a coach who helped a franchise build itself up but not get to the final stage mirrors Thibodeau, but sometimes a new place can make for a fresh face and a reboot. Ham is back in Milwaukee as a top assistant coach after leaving the Bucks for the Lakers, where he coached Los Angeles for two seasons. In Year 1, though, the Lakers won only 43 games, and the team went to the Western Conference finals. In Year 2, the Lakers fell in the first round to the Denver Nuggets, the same group that bested them the season before. Los Angeles moved on from Ham, who returned to Milwaukee under head coach Doc Rivers, where he is close with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Ham is known best for a commanding voice in the locker room. His Lakers teams finished in the middle of the pack on both offense and defense during his two seasons there. The former Denver Nuggets coach might be the most obvious candidate to replace Thibodeau. He just spent a decade on the sidelines in Denver and won an NBA title there. If the Knicks are looking for someone to take them to the promised land, Malone is the only one with the bona fides already. He's also a native New Yorker whose father, Brendan, was a former Knicks assistant. But there are obviously drawbacks. Malone was fired just three games before the playoffs a few months ago after he and general manager Calvin Booth ended up in an uncomfortable working relationship that ownership found untenable. Malone and Thibodeau have similar styles: Both believe in running their best players for a lot of minutes, both have had their disagreements with front offices and both are rugged coaches with hard-nosed mentalities. Malone won at least 46 games in his final eight seasons with the Nuggets, but he also had the benefit of coaching the best player in the world, Nikola Jokić, for the large duration of that time and there's an argument that the Nuggets should have reached more than just one finals with him. GO DEEPER A surprising Nuggets run ended with a fatal flaw exposed. Fixing it might be tricky Nori has been involved in several coaching searches in recent years while serving as the lead assistant in Minnesota under head coach Chris Finch. He has earned acclaim for his smarts and his mid-game interviews with the Timberwolves, while the franchise has also had two of its most successful seasons during his time there. Advertisement Quinn, a former player in the NBA and overseas, has been an assistant with the Miami Heat for more than a decade. Now, he is beginning to pop-up in coaching searches. He interviewed for the Cavaliers' head-coach opening last summer, but the job eventually went to Kenny Atkinson. Earlier this spring, Quinn met with the Suns. The top assistant in Dallas narrowly missed out on the Detroit Pistons job last spring and was one of the final-five candidates in Phoenix this year. He has a history of vibing with star players, including in Milwaukee, where he was very close with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Sweeney, 41, could get a look in New York if the Knicks decide they are willing to hire a first-time head coach. The LA Clippers assistant, who led the Knicks' from 1996 to 2001, is back on the bench. After all these years, Van Gundy could command another lead job. But he is also highly connected with the Knicks' previous coach, Thibodeau. The two are close. Thibodeau would travel to practices at Providence in the 1980s, when Van Gundy was an assistant there, to learn from that staff. Eventually, Thibodeau joined Van Gundy's team with the Knicks in the 1990s. Like some of these other candidates, going from Thibodeau to Van Gundy would not represent a significant swing. The ultimate wild-card candidate. His credentials are unimpeachable. He won two national championships in 22 years at Villanova and was widely seen as one of the best college coaches before he abruptly retired three years ago. Oh, and by the way, have you heard that Wright coached Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart in college? Wright has been persistently rumored as a candidate for the Knicks every time the job opened over the last decade but he hasn't bitten yet. This time, he could walk into a title-contender stocked with players he already knows and coached. It's almost a movie. There are some question marks, though. Wright has only coached in college, so he would be inexperienced on the NBA level — although he was an assistant with Team USA for the 2019 FIBA World Cup and the 2021 Olympics. (Top photo of Michael Malone: Dylan Buell /Getty Images)
