Pablo Torre on How the Knicks’ Dream Run Let New York Be ‘David and Goliath’
The jubilation has yet to die down. Knicks gear is everywhere. And a million people are expected to hit the parade route today for the ultimate celebration of the NBA champs. “I’ve lived here for 40 years,” says Pablo Torre, a Pulitzer Prize–winning podcast host and native New Yorker, and “nothing feels like this.” The Knicks’ electrifying playoff run not only satisfied diehard fans but also, says Torre, “radicalized” people “who did not give a shit about the Knicks or sports in general.”
Torre speaks reverentially about the communal nature of sports but also doesn’t let his own Knicks fandom get in the way of, say, dissecting owner James Dolan’s sophisticated surveillance operation inside Madison Square Garden on Pablo Torre Finds Out. “Exploring the underbelly is essential to my ability to enjoy what’s happening onscreen, on the court, in any given tournament,” he says. In this interview, Torre talks about a recent confluence of sports and spectacle — from the NBA Finals to the World Cup to a UFC fight at the White House — and why accountability journalism is more vital than ever in covering powerful leagues and wealthy owners.
