Celebrities adorn the first row at Madison Square Garden for practically every New York Knicks game, particularly during the team's championship run last Spring.

Who did Knicks players Tyler Kolek and Deuce McBride, both rotation players in coach Mike Brown's system to start the 2026/27 campaign, name as the team's most performative fan? Both beat around the bush before landing on one name: Taylor Swift, who sat courtside for Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

Swift, who was married at Madison Square Garden in July but hadn't attended a Knicks game at the arena in 12 years before the Finals, sat next to Este and Alana Haim from the band 'Haim.'

"At the Knicks games, I would say it's very performative, because they just want to be seen at the game," Kolek told McBride on an NBA 2K TikTok livestream on Thursday. "They're not necessarily fans....[So] Maybe Taylor Swift?"

McBride winced. "Swifties are not going to like that answer," he said. "Everybody else is usually solid. Like, you know, like Ben Stiller, Tracy [Morgan]."

Kolek attempted to walk back his initial comment slightly. "I guess she's got a lot going on, so she can't come all the time. It's a little performative," he said. "I might get some hate."

Swift previously sat with her husband, Travis Kelce, an Ohio native and a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, at Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Quicken Loans Arena, between the Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Kelce cheered for the Cavaliers.

A few weeks later, Swift wore satirical "Stevie Knicks" shirts and watched New York mount a 29-point comeback against the Spurs to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals and take a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Not everyone was happy to see her. Knicks radio announcer and former WNBA player Monica McNutt was caught on a hot mic saying: “Is that Taylor Swift? She’s not a Knicks fan. Get out of here, girl.”

Speaking on an ensuing episode of 'The Dan Le Betard Show,' famed voice actor and New York native Hank Azaria expressed frustration at Swift, a Pennsylvania native, and her visit.

“I know she’s the hugest thing in the world, but we had to sit with her all through the NFL, and now she’s at the Garden. Come on," he told host Dan Le Betard. Swift was shown during every NFL broadcast from 2023 to 2024 as she attended practically all of Kelce's Chiefs games.