In the hours after the Knicks won the NBA championship on June 13, many fans took to the streets and kept the party going, while others went to bed, likely dreaming of Jalen Brunson. Jonathan Macri was in his usual postgame spot: a desk chair in his Long Island home, livestreaming to thousands of viewers on YouTube.
As the head or “dean” of the Knicks Film School podcast, Macri and co-host Andrew Claudio had just hosted a watchalong of Game 5 of the NBA Finals, which ended in glory for the Knicks and tears of joy—or was it relief?—for the hosts. Macri would go on to livestream for another 10 hours after the game ended so that he could read off every “superchat” (a comment with a monetary donation) from the diehard Knicks Film School community that was watching.
That loyal community is one that Macri has been cultivating since 2021, when he and Kris Pursiainen (a 2024 Fordham graduate) recorded a game-film breakdown of Knicks draft pick Obi Toppin. In the past five years, Knicks Film School has become one of the most popular Knicks-related podcasts. Macri, who graduated from the Gabelli School of Business in 2005 and Fordham School of Law in 2010, is a former high school teacher who is now devoted full-time to the podcast and its corresponding Substack newsletter.
Fordham Magazine spoke to Macri about this magical season and the passion inherent to Knicks fandom.
So it’s been a few days since the Knicks won the title. How are you feeling?
“Whirlwind” doesn’t even begin to describe it. It has not set in yet. As an example, as busy as things get, I always try to make time to respond to the newsletter comments. There are three or four newsletters’ worth of comments that I have not even had a chance to look at yet, which is incredibly uncharacteristic for me.
Let’s go back to the beginning. How did you become a Knicks fan?
My parents separated before I was born, but they maintained a great relationship. So I kind of grew up with two dads—my stepfather and my biological father. To say they had nothing in common is an understatement. But then when the 1993–1994 season rolled around, Michael Jordan had retired and there was this sentiment that it was the Knicks’ year. My stepfather, who was never a sports fan, got on board. And so it was this cool situation where I‘d be home for most of the week and I‘d be watching games with my stepfather and then my dad would take me on the weekends and I‘d watch games with him. To have this thing that joined both of those worlds together was probably a very comforting thought.
And then the team was great. Patrick Ewing was such a reliable presence night in and night out, and they were a very hard-nosed team with Oakley and Starks and Mason. And then Pat Riley: the attitude, the confidence, the swagger. I mean, has anyone ever had more swagger as a head coach than Pat Riley? So yeah, I just fell in love with them.
When did you start to think the team really had a chance this year?
At the very end of the regular season, there was a game against the Atlanta Hawks, who at the time we did not know would be the Knicks‘ first-round playoff opponent. They had just come off a couple really disheartening losses, and I was feeling like, “This team doesn’t have it. What are we wasting our time for?” And then against Atlanta they really showed that certain indescribable something that you want to see from a team before they start a playoff run. They followed it up with a nice win against the Boston Celtics and then a win against the Toronto Raptors. So they kind of ended the season on this nice stretch and I‘’’m like, “Okay, you know what? Maybe they could actually do something.”
And how did that feeling grow as the playoff run went on?
The way they responded to being down 2-1 against the Hawks and specifically the gear that they found in the last game of that series when they went up by 47 points in the first half—I wasn’t sitting there fully believing, “Oh, this team is going to win a title.” But I said, “Okay, at the very least, they are serious. They have put the nonsense behind them.” Then they went on to sweep Philly in the next round. And then, when they came back from 22 points down in the fourth quarter against the Cavs, I said, “There’s something special about this team. No one’s going to be able to get them out of any game. It doesn‘t matter how far in the hole they are.”
How would you describe what it is that makes them so special?
People talk about this team and say that they‘re so likable. And I had a rant earlier this year in which in addition to saying I thought they should blow up the team in the summer, I said that they were just an incredibly unlikable group, because they had all this talent and yet so often they would go out there and underwhelm with their play on the court.
I think it‘s so fitting that they completely flipped that on its head, and they did it by believing in each other and being a completely and totally selfless group of players who just did whatever was necessary to win. And it is what every sports fan could possibly want out of their team. We got it with the Knicks this year.
And what makes the Knicks’ fanbase—and your listeners and readers—so special?
Let me try to boil it down to this. I think when you are a New Yorker, you gain a sense that eventually the hard work will pay off. No one is going to outwork you, no one is going to out-tough you, and whatever challenge you come up against, you will be able to overcome it. So if you think about that mentality and then you contrast it with a basketball team that had not won in over a half a century and had been on the short end of some of the most heartbreaking and embarrassing moments in NBA history, it really does start to mess with you. This team meant so much to so many people, but fans really started to believe that it would never happen for them.
Knicks Film School supporters and readers have been explaining to me how they feel like a different person. “I feel like my life has been forever changed by this moment. I feel like I am going to be a better dad, better husband, better wife, better sister, better brother, because I could just finally let go of this weight that I‘ve been carrying around for my entire life.” To someone who does not root for a sports team, that should sound insane. It truly should sound insane, but I could guarantee you none of these people are exaggerating, because I feel the exact same way.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
