Even after stealing a commanding two-game lead on the road in the NBA Finals, the more pessimistic of the New York Knicks faithful might still feel that it’ll take a hope and a prayer for the team to secure its first championship in 53 years. Thankfully, their de facto leader down on Celebrity Row, Spike Lee, came prepared: For Monday’s Game 3 at Madison Square Garden, the Oscar winner pulled up in a Knicks jersey signed by his holiness Pope Leo XIV.
Lee was invited to meet the Holy Father at the Vatican last November, alongside a contingent of Hollywood stars including Cate Blanchett, Virgo Mortensen, Leslie Mann, and Kenneth Lonergan. During their audience, the pope urged his guests to “bring hope” to the masses while shining a light on “the world’s wounds.” In return, Lee gave the pontiff a number-14 Knicks jersey that read “POPE LEO” on the back, and brought along a second one for himself that the Chicago native blessed with his John Hancock.
“I’m not nervous. I’m not anxious,” Lee told Vanity Fair ahead of the Finals. “And we’ve been blessed by Pope Leo.”
The Highest 2 Lowest director has already rocked the hallowed kit once during this generational playoff run, in which the Knicks have rattled off a record 13 straight wins. But its divine power will be especially crucial tonight, as Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs look to rebound from an embarrassing blunder in the closing moments of Game 2 and ruin all those “Knicks in four!” chants currently echoing through the streets of Manhattan.
Pope Leo, of course, is a noted sports enthusiast. The lifelong White Sox fan rocked one of the team’s caps at the Holy See last summer, and he’s since been inundated with a number of custom jerseys in addition to Lee’s, including gifts from the Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Royals, and even the Sox’s crosstown rival Cubs.
But according to Lee, the Bishop of Rome has a particular soft spot for the Knickerbockers. “I saw this on Instagram,” Lee said in the VF interview. “He was doing a motorcade, and a Knicks fan was yelling, ‘Knicks, Knicks, Knicks!’ and the Pope turned around and gave him a thumbs up!”
