We Talked to the Brooklyn Funeral Home Hosting a Knicks Watch Party for Game 4

Turns out, the whole thing was inspired by Karl-Anthony Towns.

Sparrow is located in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood. | SparrowNY.com, Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images

When Erica Hill, owner of Sparrow Funeral Home in Brooklyn, decided to throw a Knicks watch party for Game 4 of the NBA Finals, she had no idea the internet would react the way it did.

“Never in a million years did I expect that it was gonna go 'mini viral' like it has,” she told Sports Illustrated in an interview on Tuesday. “A lot of people think it’s sort of funny and, obviously, I get that.”

And, in all honesty, Hill was never trying to be funny. In reality, she was (and is) just trying to honor the vulnerability of Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, who has continually paid tribute to his late mother following games in the championship series.

“If you lose a parent ... you just look for signs, and I’ll take any sign I could get,” Towns told ESPN’s Lisa Salters at the end of Game 2, which ended on a blocked Victor Wembanyama jump shot. “Prayed to her strongly before that [last] possession. ... I take it as a sign my mom was there with me, so I appreciate her so much.”

The candid nature of Towns’ comments struck quite a chord with Hill, who strives to destigmatize death and grief as much as possible.

“[I was] thinking about how amazing I thought it was that he is willing to be so open about his grief for his mom,” Hill said of KAT. “We live in a society that doesn’t necessarily want to talk about grief and death and dying cause people get scared or they don’t know really what to say.”

“And I was like, you know what? We should have a watch party really inspired by him and, you know, maybe people in our community would wanna come and all be together to watch the game.”

Hill initially shared an invite via Instagram on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s Game 3. Since then, her creative proposition has gone somewhat viral, with both well-meaning attendees and chuckling onlookers chiming in on socials.

“Lmao I friggen love New York,” said one Instagram commenter. “Let it be known if we da grab that chip and my heart explodes - get me season Knicks tickets at Sparrow… tyvm,” wrote another.

“I didn’t sit around going, ‘Oh, let’s have a basketball party and everyone’s gonna think that's so crazy and weird and it’ll take on a life of its own,’” Hill explained. “It was like, ‘No, like KAT was just so inspiring.’  I was like, let’s do it in honor of his mom and have our own little watch party.” 

As of her count on Tuesday afternoon, Hill said she is expecting around 40 people to attend, which, although modest, is still quadruple the amount she thought she would have originally. Indeed, the former video and film producer initially figured that the handful who might show up would be the ten or so regulars at Swallow’s frequent event programming, which includes comedy shows, doula meetups, and “Postal Service for the Dead” nights, where grievers can write letters to a loved one who has passed.

“I’m sure a lot of people, when they’re picturing a funeral home having a watch party, it’s whatever their experience of a funeral home is, and it’s not really what our place looks like,” Hill added. “We’re really light-filled, and our walls are painted light colors, and we have art everywhere. It’s much more contemporary feeling.”

Karl-Anthony Towns’s comments about his mother served as inspiration for Sparrow Funeral Home to host their watch party. | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Hill has seen a few negative reactions to her efforts to combine death and grief with community and basketball. For example, after the Knicks were defeated in Game 3, she posted a quippy graphic with the text: “We know a thing or two about loss. See you Wednesday. Go Knicks!”

In the comments, at least one user claimed to be “disgusted.”

But Hill is not discouraged. For one, she believes you have to have a sense of humor around death or else “you’re not gonna make it through.”

And for another, “The Knicks are bringing so much joy the city. Like, just that alone, why wouldn’t you want to participate in more joy?”

Most importantly, though, she hopes to shine a light on Towns’ bravery in talking about death on his sport’s biggest stage, which is also a rarity for someone in his position.

“For me, it’s like, here’s this guy who’s a premier athlete being vulnerable and willing to talk about how the person that he obviously loves very, very much—and still loves—was still with him. And I think to hear that from somebody like that was just really powerful, and we need more of that.”

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