Elmo and Jalen Brunson are cool.
The iconic โSesame Streetโ character caught flak from Knicks fans earlier this month for posting a video on his official social media account saying, โElmo hopes both teams have fun!โ with four basketball emojis, referring to the NBA playoff series between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
Elmoโs fairweather message has amassed 27 million views on X, where fans roasted the furry red monster for not picking a side and displaying a lack of media literacy.
โA rotten individual fueled by resentment, ego, and emotional dysfunction,โ one user replied. โThey imitate confidence, manipulate for attention, and drag others into their chaos because misery is the only thing they know how to spread. Fโkk you elmo.โ
Elmo tried to walk back his comments, writing, โKNICKS that last message! Elmo didnโt mean to SPUR you on!โ He also toldย E! Newsย on the red carpet, โElmo has learned that he should not pick favorites for online consumption.โ
But the backlash didnโt let up. After the Knicks did the impossible and defeated the Spurs in Game 5 on June 13, millions of New Yorkers flooded the streets โ and it quickly became clear the win hadnโt exactly repaired theย โSesame Streetโย starโs reputation. In one especially deranged bit of viral fallout, a video circulating online shows a Knicks fan displaying a mock Elmo head on a pike above a cardboard sign reading, โTRAITOR.โ
The next day, Cookie Monster tried to help repair his friendโs reputation, writing on X, โElmo teach me not to eat trophy. Me teach Elmo to pick a team.โ
Yet it was the even-keeled Brunson who showed Elmo some forgiveness. At the Knicksโ official championship ticker-tape parade on Thursday, Variety filmed the team captain holding up and kissing an Elmo plush with a cardboard sign reading, โForgive me PLEASE,โ while standing beside the NBA championship trophy on his float.
During an interview on โCBS Mornings,โ Gayle King asked Brunson why he chose to walk away without saying a word after Spurs star Victor Wembanyama shoved him on what she called โa blatant foul,โ and the Knicks captain offered a glimpse into his Mamba mentality that defines his character.
โIt was definitely a spur-of-the-moment thing, but no matter what, you have to understand the moment, what youโre doing, and what your main goal and focus are,โ he explained. โIโve always had the ability to stay even-keeled โ never too high, never too low. Thatโs what prepared me for that situation.โ
If Brunson can move on from Wembanyama โ and Elmo โ maybe itโs time for New York to do the same.
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