In the last month, Manhattan’s played host to half a dozen art fairs, the spring auctions, and more galas than one can shake a stick at, including the grandest of them all at The Met. But there’s an argument to be made that the borough’s power center during that whole stretch was one place, multiple times a week: courtside at Madison Square Garden as the New York Knickerbockers, the NBA team named after Washington Irving’s sobriquet for a blue-blooded local, made their unlikely march through the playoffs. This cosmopolitan city’s avenues of influence come from a wide diversity of industries, from banking and media to real estate and health care, and the Brahmins of each converge to root for the Knicks.
That’s not the case when other NBA teams host a playoffs matchup at home. Maybe in Dallas you get oil barons, and at Warriors games you get Silicon Valley bigwigs, but in New York, the city’s rich history of literary and cultural philanthropy is on full display in its basketball fandom—it’s not just A-listers and pop stars, like at, say, a Lakers game.
Noah Baumbach, indie movie hero, is a New York basketball mega-fan whose debut film featured scenes where the main character gets voicemails from his father, played by Elliott Gould, with updates: “Did you see the Knicks-Bulls exhibition on Saturday?” “Call me. Knicks in trouble.”
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Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav appears to be a big Knicks fan, as does his occasional seatmate Larry David. Does it surprise you that Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas, the avatar for a new generation of downtown rock and roll, loves the New York Knicks? It should not.
I’ve been to a few games in good seats, and even when it’s not the playoffs, it’s astounding: billionaires, Wall Street titans, Hollywood studio heads, socialites, art dealers and their whale collectors, real estate tycoons and notorious financiers. The 150-odd spots that line the court at the world’s most famous arena make for a modern-day Mrs. Astor’s ballroom, with the roll call acting as a written history of who is on top in Gotham on that very evening.
Let’s start with the people who you’ve already seen on the Jumbotron. You may have noticed Spike Lee at a few Knicks games over the years, and he was indeed present at the decisive win over the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals May 16. That is, until he had to fly to Cannes to premiere his film Highest 2 Lowest…in which Denzel Washington plays a Celtics-hating Knicks fan with a signed Jalen Brunson jersey on his wall. Also present is the high chieftain of Knicks X, Ben Stiller—yeah, he made Severance, but he also posts some fiery hot takes from the Garden. Ed Burns and his wife, Christy Turlington Burns, have been Knicks fans long before they landed in the playoffs with some regularity. Same with Michael J. Fox. Credit where credit is due.
Plenty of pop music royalty too: In the last month, Bad Bunny sat courtside, as did Cardi B and other musicians such as Busta Rhymes, Jelly Roll, Mary J. Blige, and Ciara. And you could see on TV a deep squad of legendary comedians: Bill Murray, Tracy Morgan, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David.
And there’s no Knicks fan more dedicated than Timothée Chalamet, who not only went to games one and two of the Pacers series, he also traveled with the team to Indianapolis to spur on a come-from-behind victory on the road Sunday, followed by the punishing loss on Tuesday night. Which isn’t surprising for Chalamet, a born-and-raised New Yorker, who, as a 14-year-old Knicks fan in 2010, won a trivia contest and got to meet then rookies Landry Fields and Andy Rautins. “Tim Chalamet is the winner. Found us at grand central. Congrats Tim!” Fields posted at the time. “See you Friday at the game.”
But most shockingly, to one game Chalamet brought his girlfriend, Kylie Jenner, and her sister Kendall Jenner—two of the most famous Angelenos on the planet, with Lakers yellow and purple running through their veins. But there they were, courtside next to Chalamet, going nuts for the Knicks.
But if there are, say, 20 famous faces in celebrity row each night, that leaves another 130-odd seats filled by people who might not make it on the Jumbotron but represent the great cross section of cultural firepower and financial might that defines New York City in 2025. I asked a number of sources who have been sitting courtside and courtside-adjacent at games the last few weeks if they could tell me a few people who have popped up, notables who might not make it on TV every night, but kind of, you know, run the city.
There’s quite a large contingent of art dealers and art collectors in the mix—if that surprises you for some reason, it shouldn’t. New York’s Chelsea is still the nation’s largest concentration of primo blue-chip art galleries, and the art world is crazy about the Knicks. Larry Gagosian is often sitting courtside, right next to the media wall, and on one occasion brought with him the collector Tico Mugrabi. On another night, those seats were occupied by Steve Cohen, the Mets owner and billionaire hedge fund manager who also has one of the greatest art collections in America. He brought his wife, Alexandra Cohen.
On other playoff nights, sources spotted the multigenerational art-dealing family the Acquavellas, as well as Joe Nahmad, the member of the Picasso-owning Nahmad family and the founder of the gallery Nahmad Contemporary. Vito Schnabel, the art dealer with galleries in Chelsea and the West Village, was sitting with Jeff Zalaznick, partner at Major Food Group. Schnabel has curated the art installed at the group’s restaurant Carbone—yes, Chef!—as well as at ZZ’s Club, in Hudson Yards. Longtime mega-collector David Geffen has been in attendance, as well as collector Glenn Fuhrman, who also runs the FLAG Art Foundation in Chelsea. Collector Andres Santo Domingo often sits behind the baseline, and attended a game this month with the art dealer PC Valmorbida.
Despite this being New York and not LA, there are plenty of Hollywood movers and shakers at the games. Netflix head honcho Ted Sarandos came by and sat courtside while in town for upfronts. When he wasn’t there with Larry David, Zaslav posted up with John McEnroe and Don Johnson. Jeffrey Katzenberg was spotted sitting courtside as well. As for Wall Street, Dan Sundheim, the founder of D1 Capital, has been at most games. And several sources said they’ve spotted Leon Black, the Apollo cofounder, sitting courtside as well.
Those who follow the exploits of celebrity row know about the secret suite at the Garden where invited VIPs can go enjoy food and drink courtesy of owner James Dolan. It’s not a thing that a courtside ticket will necessarily get you into—it’s invitation only, primarily to make sure the Turlington-Burnses and Jenners of the world have a place to chill during the break where they won’t have to be walled off by bodyguards.
But the non-movie-star billionaires? They go to the Delta Sky360° Club. Located on the far side of the court, tucked under the bottom riser of seats, the Delta lounge is where you’ll find most of those mentioned above enjoying gratis food and a cash bar, taking advantage of an incredible mingling opportunity. I’ve sat in seats with Delta lounge access on a few occasions, and let me tell you, it’s something. At one point I was heading back to my seats and almost knocked into Jamie Dimon.
“I bet the Delta lounge has been a networking dream,” one Knicks source said.
Though of course it remains to be seen what the vibe will be like tonight, when the Knicks face the Pacers at home in a win-or-go-home game five. To lose and end the season, after all this, is unthinkable. But hey, if that happens, you still get to walk out of the Garden and realize: At least you live in New York City, and not Indiana.
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