Join The Club
It’s been a long time since fans have been able to say this, but the New York Knicks are at the center of popular culture right now. The legendary NBA franchise is one win away from its first title in more than fifty years, and seemingly every game at Madison Square Garden looks like a toned down Met Gala or Academy Awards ceremony with all the famous faces jammed in. We’re even getting stories about who is there, what they’re wearing and whether they're manspreading, as well as snarky comments from other celebs like say Selena Gomez.
The popular Only Murders In The Building actress is from Texas and one of the few celebrities who is rooting for the San Antonio Spurs. She’s been seen at games in the past and has been commenting on her socials during the playoffs. After Game 4, however, a few of those comments got her in trouble, and now she’s backpeddling to clarify who her comments were actually about.
Let’s call a timeout real quick and make sure we’ve all got the backstory. Game 4 happened in New York on Wednesday night, and it felt like a celebrity was in the background of every single shot. Taylor Swift was there in coordinated t-shirts with the Haim sisters. Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Mariska Hargitay, Tracy Morgan, Hailey Bieber, John McEnroe, Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, Ben Stiller, Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner and literally a hundred more at least were all in attendance. It was a wild game, and the Knicks pulled off the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history to win it in the last seconds.
After it was over, Gomez took to her Instagram story and fired off a little jab at some of the Knicks fans who may have joined the party a little late…
Mad respect for the game!! Congrats to the peeps that represent! What a come back. So funny how some are all the sudden fans though lol.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, fans immediately started running with her comments, especially after they discovered she also commented “lol” underneath a photo MTV posted of Taylor Swift and Mariska Hargitay hugging at the Knicks game. Was she accusing her good friend Taylor of being a fake fan? Was she talking about Hailey Bieber, who was also at the Knicks game and featured in some celeb roundups that were posted by the team on social? Was there some kind of interpersonal drama she was trying to work out by throwing up her middle finger at celebs who were late to the party?
Well, Gomez would like everyone to know that she was not trying to start drama. She was only trying to poke fun at some friends she bet on the game with. Here’s what she posted on her Instagram Story last night…
woke up and was sent so many texts. I would never insult my friends nor was it an insult. The comment was a reaction to the first slide on the page. Second I bet my friends on the game. The friends in the text chain I posted. I lost but was poking fun at my opponents, my friends. Believe it or not I do have other friends in my life. But quickly forget that most assume otherwise. also… It’s a basketball game.
I have no idea what happened here, but I do know people accusing other people of being fake fans is a story as old as time. Some people live and die with every regular season game, and some people get excited and only watch later during the playoffs. That’s just a part of sports. The fact we’re talking about the New York Knicks and so many celebrities are involved is the only thing that makes this unique.
That being said, you can decide for yourself who exactly Gomez was accusing of being a fake fan. She claims it was her random friends, and I’m going to choose to believe her. If you want to think she had specific celebrities in mind, that’s your business.
Game 5 is in San Antonio on Saturday night. The crowd won’t be filled with nearly as many celebrities, but I would expect at least a few dozen famous superfans to make the trip down and potentially watch the Knicks taste glory for the first time since 1973.
