One of the most heartwarming stories coming out of the Knicks-Celtics NBA Playoff Game Four centers Academy Award-nominated actor Timothée Chalamet. And no, I’m not talking about his date night with Kylie Jenner.
Last night, Timothée had a very full circle Jewish moment when he had the opportunity to meet former Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire. The pair are both Jewish — Timothée is Russian and Polish Jewish on his mother’s side and seems to be mainly culturally Jewish. Meanwhile, Amar’e is a practicing Orthodox Jew who completed his conversion in 2020. He also became a citizen of Israel in 2019, where he played for teams Hapoel Jerusalem and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
“Tied the Loop,” Timothée wrote in an Instagram story with a photo of the pair shaking hands. Immediately preceding that image, he shared another Instagram story of the first time the pair technically met. In that photo, Timothée is a mere 14 years old and Amar’e is autographing the life-long Knicks’ fan’s jersey.
Per a 2017 profile of Timothée in Vulture, that meeting took place nearly 15 years ago on July 3, 2010. Amar’e was in New York, having just opted out of renewing his contract with the Phoenix Suns. All signs pointed to the 6’10” power forward signing with the New York Knicks. When Amar’e tweeted about seeing the Broadway show “Rock of Ages,” teenage Timmy waited outside the Brooks Atkinson Theatre for nearly two hours until the show was over. When the basketball star finally came outside, Timothée was able to snag an autograph from him and paparazzi documented the moment.
“In fact,” Timothée proudly told Vulture at the time, “the first picture of Amar’e ever holding a New York jersey was in the ‘Daily News,’ and there’s a young me holding the jersey up to him to get him to sign it!”
It’s bashert! And even more bashert? The meeting comes just months ahead of Amar’e’s induction into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.
