Ben Stiller Turned His Knicks Parade Float Into a Documentary Shoot and Nobody’s Surprised

Ben Stiller rolled through the Canyon of Heroes on Thursday with a phone in one hand and a grin that said everything. The actor, director, and lifelong Knicks fan was perched on a float during the team’s championship parade and he had the camera rolling. Of course he did.

Stiller, who has been documenting the Knicks’ entire playoff run for an upcoming HBO and A24 project, was spotted filming the crowd from his spot on the float. He was hyping people up and capturing the scene from his own point of view. It was pure, unfiltered Knicks fandom colliding with a film project that has been in the works since before anyone knew this team would actually pull it off.

He’s Been Everywhere This Postseason

If you watched any Knicks playoff game this spring and saw a familiar face in the stands with a phone pointed at the court, that was Stiller. He was at nearly every home game, sometimes sitting courtside, sometimes wandering through the crowd. People noticed. People wondered. It turns out he was working.

Stiller confirmed the project on Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart’s “Roommates Show” podcast. He said the documentary isn’t just about this one magical run. It’s going to cover all eras of the Knicks. Which means we’re probably getting some deep cuts from the 1990s brawls and the Carmelo Anthony years. Maybe even some footage of him as a seven-year-old watching the 1973 title, because that was the last time the Knicks won one until now.

Don’t Expect It Tomorrow

Stiller said they’re planning to work on this thing over the next year. So it might be a while before anyone actually gets to see whatever he’s been filming. That’s fine. Knicks fans have waited 53 years for a parade. They can wait a little longer for the behind-the-scenes cut.

For now, they get to soak this in. The Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs in five games to win the NBA Finals. They took the first two in San Antonio, dropped Game 3 at the Garden, then pulled off a ridiculous 29-point comeback in Game 4 before closing it out on the road. That Game 4 comeback is the kind of thing that turns a documentary from a fun side project into something genuinely historic.

Stiller looked like a kid on that float. Because, honestly, he kind of was. The last time the Knicks did this, he was in second grade. Now he’s got the footage to prove he was actually there.