Liberty Earn Latest Win with Celebrity Guests
BROOKLYN—The New York Liberty defended their duplex and then met the Focker.
A brief return home saw the Liberty down the Dallas Wings by an 87-78 final in front of a crowd of 16,306 at Barclays Center on Tuesday night. The multitudes included New York basketball superfan Ben Stiller, who quickly drew a seafoam crowd after the win was secured.
"We told him to come to the middle so we can get a really nice picture," forward Jonquel Jones, of a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double fame, said. "He's just an amazing actor, and obviously we all kind of grew up watching him, and so it's good to see him here in the building and supporting us and being a Liberty fan."
At the Ellie Wave, @BenStiller is better than you…and he knows it#WNBA #LightItUpNYL pic.twitter.com/MaGBnuK6X2
— Geoff Magliocchetti (@GeoffJMags) August 6, 2025
Among modern audiences, Stiller is perhaps best-known for his directorial work on the lauded Apple TV+ series "Severance." To the Liberty roster born between 1990 and 2000, however, Stiller is renowned for starring in goofy comedies such as "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," "There's Something About Mary," "Tropic Thunder," and "Zoolander."
The whole Liberty team, including injured regulars Kennedy Burke and Breanna Stewart, eventually made its way to Stiller after the game, where he posed for a picture with the victorious group. Jones mentioned that Marine Johannes had asked Stewart, one of the franchise faces, to bring Stiller over but eventually the whole team got involved for a series of smiles.
New York's championship journey, as well as the overall rise in women's basketball popularity, has drawn numerous well-known guests over the past, the most frequent visitor likely being Stiller's fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum Jason Sudeikis. Liberty reps were particularly starstruck when reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff took in a June 10 win over Chicago.
"'Meet the Fockers,' if you haven't seen it, I'm judging hardcore at this point," dozen-point scorer Natasha Cloud said with a laugh. "We really appreciate every celebrity that comes through. But more importantly, it's just a testament to women's basketball as a whole, and the trajectory that we're on."
Everyone wants support. Everyone wants to support, everyone wants to be here. We play at the elite level. We're exciting, we [trash] talk, we do all that. So it's just a really good time here. I love our celebrity row. I always look to see who's here on any given night, and that's exciting for us too, to want to put on, not only for our fans, but for people that come through and make time for our games, as well."
Stiller, well-known for his love of the NBA's New York Knicks, was in attendance alongside his wife Christine Taylor, as well as "Severance" stars Zach Cherry and John Turturro. Others on "CeLiberty Row" on Tuesday included Yonkers-based rapper Jadakiss and Little League World Series legend Mo'ne Davis.
His most recent film role was his reprisal of evil orderly "Hal L." in Netflix's "Happy Gilmore 2" and it was recently confirmed that he would reprise his renowned role of Gaylord "Greg" Focker in "Focker-in-Law," the upcoming fourth installment in the "Meet the Parents" franchise.
Geoff Magliocchetti is a veteran sportswriter who contributes to a variety of sites on the "On SI" network. In addition to the Yankees/Mets, Geoff also covers the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, and New York Giants and has previously written about the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Staten Island Yankees, and NASCAR.