Before World Cup debut, US player explains fanaticism for the NY Knicks
The last line of defense between New Yorker Tyler Adams and a celebration that's been waiting a lifetime to happen, the beige cushions of the team's luxurious hotel turned into a trampoline as Adams and the U.S. Men's National Team celebrated the Knicks' improbable victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.
After OG Anunoby converted Jalen Brunson's short three-point shot, Adams - wearing only a pair of casual red flip-flops on his feet - jumped onto the couch and over the cushions.
Then, to complete the celebration, the midfielder reversed the movement, jumping over the back of the sofa and returning to the cushions, with an expression of pure shock and joy on his face.
Without a doubt, the sofa acrobatics made the hearts of many football fans in the US race. This Friday (12) night, Adams will play what is, arguably, the most important match of his career.
The United States face Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium in a World Cup game that has been considered nothing less than the most pivotal moment in the evolution of American soccer.
SOMEONE CHECK ON KNICKS FAN TYLER ADAMS https://t.co/ISvTYiYAie pic.twitter.com/2yy3qpec1S
- U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 11, 2026
But being a fan is being a fan, and Adams, born in Poughkeepsie and raised in Wappinger Falls, was born in February 1999. A few months later, the Knicks reached the Finals; and they have never returned since. He, like generations going back more than 50 years, has never witnessed an NBA championship.
"Look, I have group chats with my friends from my hometown, and we've always been Knicks fans," Adams told CNN Sports. "We've never been this close, so it's exciting. I was speechless."
The video of his and his teammates' celebration, in addition to going viral, was charmingly genuine, a portrait of how - regardless of their level of personal fame or athletic success - deep down, everyone is a kid rooting for their team.
The US men's team... they're just like us. And just like us, Adams didn't hesitate to reveal which teammates weren't Knicks fans.
"Brenden Aaronson, a hater," Adams said. "He's a Sixers fan." In Aaronson's defense, he grew up in Medford, New Jersey, just across the river from Philadelphia.
The fact that, in the last training session before the USA participated in the World Cup on American soil, the first five questions directed at Adams were about the Knicks, says something about the bias of American sports culture.
"That's going to be the question now, okay?" Adams said, laughing. The World Cup may be the biggest sporting event in the world, but the fight for space in the US sporting consciousness continues.
Unless you dig deeper, you'll find parallels between the mission of the U.S. men's national team and the trajectory of the Knicks.
Despite dominating the playoffs and winning 11 straight games, the Knicks were considered betting underdogs when the series began against San Antonio. Throughout the playoffs, and especially in the last four games, they have built a reputation for grit and courage.
They staged three epic comebacks against Spurs, saving the most incredible for the most recent, when they recovered from a 29-point deficit.
In the process, the Knicks achieved a nearly impossible task: they made a New York professional sports team likable.
The task of the American team is even more arduous. The odds of winning the World Cup are 60 to 1, and a realistic good performance would be somewhere around qualifying for the round of 16.
But if they succeed, they will have achieved something similar to the Knicks' broader achievement: they will have opened the sport to a wider audience and perhaps made it attractive to those who choose not to follow it.
"It's really fascinating," Adams said of the Knicks' unlikely trajectory. "For them to be kind of the underdogs in the East and pull off something special, like they're doing now? That inspires me. But hey, I'm a New York Knicks fan."
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Source: CNN