Sopranos Star Calls Up Kelly Oubre for Knicks Talk

You Sixers. You’re going too far.

Actor Steve Schrippa, best known for his role as Bobby Baccalieri on the critically acclaimed HBO series “The Sopranos,” has signed himself up as a soldier in the New York Knicks’ ongoing war with the Philadelphia 76ers. As the Eastern Conference quarterfinals got underway, Kelly Oubre Jr. fired. of Philadelphia fired the first verbal shots by knocking on the spectator area at Madison Square Garden, claiming that such seats would be filled by celebrities who would “be there and not care about the game.”

Baccalieri may have been the most mild-mannered character on “The Sopranos,” but Oubre’s comments drew Schrippa’s real ire.

“He’s kind of talking out of his (rear) butt and he’s wrong because they are real fans,” Schrippa, a celebrity mainstay, told Angela Barbuti of the New York Post. “I don’t know who he’s talking about. The guys in the front row, they care. Tracy Morgan, a huge fan. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, myself, Matthew Modine, John McEnroe, Fat Joe, all fans. Probably knows more about basketball than he does, believe it or not.

undefined — March 29, 2023; New York, New York, USA; American actors and comedians Chris Rock (left) and Ben

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The MSG celebrities picked up a pair of Knicks wins early in the series, including an instant classic in Game 2 last Monday night. The 76ers got on the board with a 125-114 win in the most recent tilt on Thursday at Wells Fargo Center.

Although the series expands to at least five games, that will leave the Sixers with one more game on MSG hardwood. Oubre and Joel Embiid will likely receive a frosty reception given their respective roles in the Knicks’ demise on Thursday: Embiid scored 50 points and had questionable encounters with the Knicks’ interior staff, while Oubre had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field.

Schrippa isn’t the first famous Knicks fan to respond to Oubre’s backlash: Stiller, who taped the games with “Madagascar” co-star Rock, labeled the veteran “Kelly Who-bre” in an X post that drew cheers from Modine, fresh off an appearance in the brand new Best Picture winner “Oppenheimer.”

The series returns to Manhattan on Tuesday night for part five. Schrippa and Co. are likely hoping the Knicks will have a chance to go for the knockout punch as Game 4 begins Sunday afternoon on Broad Street (1 p.m. ET, ABC).

Be sure to bookmark All Knicks for the latest news, exclusive interviews, movie recaps and more!

Related Posts