NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Mike Brown thought he was finished with his news conference Sunday when a voice called out from the back of the interview room.
Fat Joe wanted the mic.
The rapper gave the New York Knicks coach some grief about the kind of sneakers he wears, then asked for an autographed pair if they win the championship, as the team’s celebrity fans got into the action during a .
also was at Madison Square Garden, taking video and meeting the coach for the first time.
鈥淎 great day for me today,鈥� Brown said at the start of his remarks. 鈥淔or the first time I got a chance to meet Ben Stiller. I don鈥檛 know if he鈥檚 in here or not. I actually gave him a handshake and a hug. I got my man Fat Joe sitting in the back. This is a great day for Mike Brown.鈥�
Stiller was indeed there, recording from a position toward the side of the room.
Brown, in his first season in New York, recently said Fat Joe was the celebrity he had gotten to know best. His wife noticed Stiller standing on the court when the Knicks clinched the Eastern Conference championship in Cleveland, but she was too shy to ask to take a photograph.
The Knicks’ celebrity fans, including the likes of director Spike Lee and actors Tracy Morgan and Timoth茅e Chalamet, having been following the team at home and on the road during the postseason. Fat Joe said the trip to the NBA Finals, the Knicks’ first since 1999, has brought the city together.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen Hasidic Jews breakdancing with Black kids outside the stadium. This is the greatest unification you鈥檝e ever seen of this New York City in your life since 9/11,鈥� he said. “If you want to know what we felt like in 9/11 after the tragedy, it鈥檚 what you鈥檙e seeing around New York City, is everybody together. This is insane.
鈥淚鈥檝e got a friend, he puts a screen in his backyard. He said the whole neighborhood, people he鈥檚 never talked to in his life are walking through his house, opening the refrigerator. This is like, unbelievable.鈥�
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