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Mariska Hargitay is not just a New York City icon; she’s also a top-tier New York Knicks fan. Of course, we already knew that, seeing as she’s the only celebrity allowed to hug Jalen Brunson. However, as the NBA Finals aired on the 2026 TV schedule, seeing her courtside made her adoration for the team even clearer. Now, her son has also proved to be quite the Knicks fan, as he attended the victory parade with her while wearing a punny T-shirt that both honored his mother and kept the tradition Taylor Swift and her squad started alive.
The shirt in question, obviously, said “Marknickska Hargitay.” So, it fit right in with the Stevie Knicks shirt both Swift and Hargitay wore at Game 4 of the Finals. And Hargitay’s 18-year-old son, August Hermann, looked fantastic in it. Take a look at this photo of the mother-son duo at the Knicks’ victory parade:
I love this moment for so many reasons. First of all, Mariska Hargitay’s love for the Knicks has been infectious, and viral photos of her celebrating their wins have been one of my favorite things to come out of the NBA Finals. Plus, as I said, her friendship with Brunson, the NBA Finals MVP, is wonderful. Now, this photo proves that her family loves the team, AND they had fun playing with the tradition of wearing punny T-shirts that Taylor Swift and the Haim sisters started.
In the days since Swift rocked the Stevie Knicks shirt that was made by Alana Haim (she also made tops that said Knickole Kidman and Knickelback), there have been so many new shirts and puns made. However, my favorite moment regarding this whole situation was the fact that this squad had extra shirts with them and were able to give one to the SVU star mid-game. They all looked iconic, it further proved how special both Swift and Hargitay’s friendship is, and it helped cement this trend as one of the viral highlights of the Knicks Finals run.
Now, we can add Hargitay’s son to the list of people hopping on the trend. While his mom rocked a Stevie Knicks shirt at a game, and I loved that, I think him rocking a “Marknickska Hargitay” top really takes the cake. She really is one of the great celebrity Knicks fans, alongside Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and Timothée Chalamet, so I think she deserves to be recognized as that by way of a punny shirt.
Meanwhile, Hargitay’s shirt matched Hermann’s, but it said “Brilliant Thing #11: The Knicks.” That is a reference to the Broadway show she’s in, Every Brilliant Thing. She took over the gig from Daniel Radcliffe earlier this summer, and has been performing eight shows a week while also rooting on the Knicks. So, this is a fun nod to her Broadway debut; however, it’s also a brilliant acknowledgement of her friendship with Jalen Brunson, seeing as 11 is his number.
Instantly, this moment became one of my favorites. I’ve loved seeing Mariska Hargitay root for the Knicks over the course of the Finals. To see that series of events end with her and her son rocking fantastic T-shirts at the parade felt like the perfect conclusion to this epic saga involving pun-tastic tops.
