Ben Stiller spent the New York Knicks’ entire championship run filming from courtside on his iPhone. Now the world knows why. Stiller confirmed Wednesday on Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart’s Roommates Show podcast that he is directing a multi-part documentary series about the Knicks, produced in partnership with A24, HBO, and the NBA. The series will “trace the full arc of the franchise from the ’90s to the improbable, record-breaking run that finally returned a championship to New York,” according to A24, promising unprecedented league access and never-before-seen footage.
The Knicks won their first NBA title in 53 years this month, defeating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 of the Finals. Stiller, a fixture on celebrity row at Madison Square Garden for decades, was courtside throughout the playoff run — a familiar presence alongside Timothée Chalamet, Spike Lee, Taylor Swift, Jerry Seinfeld, and others — openly filming moments on his phone and posting clips to social media with hints that they were “part of a bigger project.”
The documentary will not limit itself to this season’s title run. “It’s kind of going to be about all eras of the Knicks,” Stiller said on the podcast. “When you look at the ’70s championships, the ’90s runs, and then this team doing it again, there’s just so much within that.”
Owner James Dolan approved the project and granted full access. Stiller said filming began shortly before the playoff run and will continue into next season, with no set episode count or release date yet established.
Stiller has prior documentary experience — his film about his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, earned a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes. He is currently executive producing Severance, though he is not directing any episodes of the upcoming third season, potentially freeing time for the Knicks project.
Stiller told Brunson and Hart, “I did say ‘Knicks in 26,'” before adding: “There’s a culmination here of something that’s been going on for a long time. It’s great to have all this access to your team.”
