Did the Knicks have some divine intervention in their journey from lovable losers to NBA champs this season?
When Pope Leo XIV received a group of elite writers yesterday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Vatican Publishing House, “Everything Is Illuminated” author Jonathan Safran Foer was on the sacred scene and gifted the Pontiff a Knicks yarmulke, we hear.
A devout Knicks fan told us that when Safran Foer had an audience with the Pontiff on Wednesday in Vatican City and handed His Holiness the Kippah, Leo remarked upon seeing the Knicks logo: “You know, their best players came from Villanova.”
When the author nodded respectfully, the Pope shared further, “I also went to Villanova.”
That prompted Safran Foer to quip, “So I’ve heard. Some people think the team had some ‘special’ help.”
The Pope replied, “Maybe they did,” according to our spiritual spy. (Indeed, Jalen Brunson‘s inspirational MVP performance can only be described as heaven-sent.)
Also at the event were Pulitzer winners Elizabeth Strout (“Olive Kitteridge”) and Marilynne Robinson (“Gilead”) as well as National Book Award-winning writer Colum McCann (“Let the Great World Spin”) and Norwegian Nobel Prize laureate Jon Fosse, among others.
Making the sanctified scene worthy of a novel — or a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode — our observant source said that Safran Foer actually had trouble procuring the Knicks’ yarmulke for the Pope in the first place, because the skullcaps completely flew off the shelves after the team’s mystical winning streak.
“All the Knicks yarmulkes were sold out!” the faithful source told us. Instead, Safran Foer saw a kid on the street wearing one, and told the tyke he’d buy it right off his head before heading to Rome.
When the kid (wisely) wanted $50, Safran Foer apparently told him, “It’s for the Pope!” But the kid “wouldn’t negotiate. True,” the source said.
The Knicks’ trio of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges played together at Villanova, winning NCAA championships in 2016 and 2018. (Though, as Bridges and Brunson mention every chance they get, Hart was only there for the first). Pope Leo graduated from the school in 1977 with a degree in math.
There had been previous hints he’d been rooting for the Knicks. Like when a fan yelled out “Let’s Go Knicks!” as Leo passed in his Popemobile in Rome earlier this month, and the Servant of the Servants of God seemed to give a thumbs up.
Leo advised the assembled writers at the event, “create spaces of freedom and authenticity within which divine grace can make the promise of consolation and peace resound.” He added: “We need your imagination, your narrative creativity and your lively thinking.” Amen.