About 24 hours after the U.S. men’s national team opened the World Cup with a 4-1 win over Paraguay, New York Knicks fans Tyler Adams and Timothy Weah watched their NBA team clinch its first title in 53 years with a 4-1 Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs. T
For Tyler Adams, the last whistle didn’t just end a game—it kicked off a run of celebrations that started on the soccer pitch and spilled straight into the NBA Finals.
About 24 hours after the U.S. men’s national team beat Paraguay 4-1 in its opening match of the World Cup, the Knicks clinched their first NBA title in 53 years with a 4-1 Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, June 13.
Adams and Timothy Weah are both overseas—Adams in England and Weah in France—but neither let go of their Knicks fandom. U.S. Soccer posted a video on Instagram showing Adams watching the end of the World Cup match with his family at the team hotel. When the final buzzer sounded. Adams jumped up and down. exchanging hugs and hand slaps with anyone close enough to reach.
“Let’s go!” Adams yelled, before looking around and yelling, “Tims!”
That call likely landed on Weah, another New Yorker—at least in spirit. Weah posted a shot of the Knicks celebrating at the end of the game with the caption, “53 years. What a time to be alive and from NYC,” alongside more than two dozen crying emojis.
The timing couldn’t have fit more neatly into a story already building for them. After New York’s improbable comeback in Game 4 on Wednesday, June 10, Adams had shared a video of himself jumping over the back of a couch where USMNT players had been watching the game.
“I blacked out. I’m not going to lie,” Adams said the following day, grinning.
“New York underdogs, man,” he added. “That’s the New York mentality. That’s what I love about being from New York, is the character, the personality. So as a kid from New York — obviously not the city. but just in general — I feel like you always have your backs up against the wall. It’s just about proving people wrong.”.
Now, the proving-people-wrong moment had a second act: celebrating a Knicks title. The sequence played out on their own terms, in two different sports and two different continents, but with the same emotional through-line—wait until the final minutes, then let it all out.
USMNT World Cup Paraguay Tyler Adams Timothy Weah New York Knicks NBA Finals San Antonio Spurs 53 years sports news soccer and basketball