There were a lot of smiling faces on TV right after the New York Knicks’ momentous NBA championship-clinching victory over the San Antonio Spurs on June 13, but none were as instantly iconic as Chiki Uno’s gap-toothed grin. Uno, a 31-year-old professional model from the Bronx, starred in a Nike advertisement directed by Josh Safdie that aired on TV during the first postgame commercial break. Set to Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind,” the ad follows a man in a Knicks jersey (Uno) sprinting and cartwheeling down the streets of New York. After a few blocks of running, he reaches his destination — hordes of Knicks fans celebrating their team’s long-awaited championship — and breathes a deep sigh of relief. The look of elation that creeps over his face is a perfect encapsulation of everything that long-suffering Knicks fans were feeling when the ad aired. Uno immediately became an avatar for the city’s jubilant moment.
Sleep well, NY. pic.twitter.com/xg9JLLKT4K
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) June 14, 2026
Just as the championship represents a turning point for the Knicks franchise, the ad represents a turning point for Uno, who started his career as a professional jerk and footwork dancer before transitioning into modeling in 2013. While he had no previous acting experience, he was cast based on a run-in with Safdie at a previous photo shoot, and when he first showed up to set, he assumed he was going to be an extra rather than the ad’s star. Now, he says, he can’t walk down the street without being recognized or getting offered free drinks. He credits all this newfound success to continuing to believe in himself. “A little bit of delusion will carry you a long way,” he says. “Any Knicks fan will tell you that much.”
How have the last couple of days been? It must have been a bit of a whirlwind.
Yeah, it was. I was expecting it to happen, because obviously I was on set and I have this thing that I worked on that I’m anticipating, and as much as I wasn’t really a sports fan, I know how important it was — not just to me or New Yorkers, but anybody who’s ever been told no, anybody who’s fallen on shortcomings. It’s gotten a lot of crazy reception. I’ve never had this much attention in my life. I’m definitely more recognizable than player No. 44 from the Knicks, who I can’t identify because I’m more identifiable than them.
How did you get cast?
Michele Mansoor does casting for Jennifer Venditti, who casted things like Euphoria and a lot of things with Josh Safdie, who’s one of her close friends. Michele messaged me for an extra gig in the dead of winter. It was by Coney Island, and it was really, really cold; I could see my breath. She was like, “Hey, this is going to be for W Mag. Timothée Chalamet is the protagonist of something, and you’re going to be in the supporting cast.” He was cool; he was extremely personable on set. I love the duality between his professionalism and him just being a kid.
I got paid, months go by, and Michele hits me up two days before the shoot. She’s like, “Hey, I know this is last-minute, but Josh really loved you on set.” Mind you, I had no recollection of who Josh was at all. I’m just like, “Oh, Josh! Your friend! That guy with the beard!” I did the audition video. It was like, “We loved it. Perfect. You’re confirmed!” That was it. No questions asked. Being receptive, easy to work with, and professional really matter to me. I think that’s really what got me in this position. Also, just a little bit of delusion will carry you a long way. Any Knicks fan will tell you that much.
I thought I was going to be an extra until 40 minutes before we started rolling. I was already on set for six hours getting my hair done and getting makeup. I’m like, “You’re not putting makeup over my tattoos. I’m an extra. What do you care?” And they’re like, “Hahaha, you think you’re an extra? That’s so sweet. No, no, no.” Josh, the Chiki whisperer, quickly walked over and was like, “Hey, I know. They make me do stuff I don’t want to do. It’s Nike. It’s big!” I was like, “Yes, okay, whatever. Let’s do it! Cover all my tattoos if you need to.” I had different insight at that moment. I was like, Oh, I’m the guy.
How long ago was it that they hit you up to be in the ad?
I believe it was six days before game one.
Had you done any acting previous to this?
No. This is the beginning of a whole new chapter for me. I hope I get to be in a blockbuster film sooner rather than later. I think I would do terrific. What does one do when you’re walking down the street and the bus driver recognizes you, and you feel like an honorary New York Knick? I’m getting free drinks, they won’t let me pay for water, free chips at the bodega. I’ll tell you this much: I’m not in a rush to fix my missing tooth anymore. It’s the face of adversity and overcoming.
Yeah. I Googled you, and there were pictures of you with all your teeth online. Was this a recent loss?
Yes. I lost it a little after 2021. I nicked it on a Carhartt jacket sleeve. You know how you go to pick up your sleeve with your tooth? I nicked it. It was freezing cold, it hurt like an MFer. It was not good at all.
It gives you a really distinctive look. Has it impacted your modeling work?
I would like to think so. You don’t know what or who people are considering until you’re considered, but I would say that people see the smile — this new million-dollar smile — and they’re like, Yeah, I need that. I think this guy represents the perfectly imperfect. I think people see themselves in me regardless of what their smile looks like. They might have a picture-perfect smile, but this missing tooth reflects a certain part inside of them that maybe is insecure. Or maybe not insecure — maybe the tooth is representing those that just knew: I knew I didn’t have to fix my tooth. I knew I didn’t have to fix that one thing — that one quality about me that was described as a flaw.
What was the actual set like? Did they have to shut down the street?
It is New York City — the greatest city in the world, baby — so you can’t actually shut down the street in that capacity. Some streets were blocked off, but not Eighth Avenue. They had police officers and traffic police directing. The holding was at Hammerstein Ballroom. There were 600 to 700 extras. There had to be 32 costumers. It was a really, really big production. From what I believe, they were shooting up until the Monday before the win.
It’s had to be really hush-hush, so they had to be really methodical about how they picked their extras. So I would presume that they went through their database and their rolodex and was like, “Hey, let’s get these guys. They’ve done good work for us.”
I wanted to ask about the sprinting sequence. How long were you running consecutively in each take?
I would say three to four blocks. I was really, really sprinting. I sprained my ankle in the midst of it, but it’s all worth it. You can see the strenuous run in my face. I couldn’t have done it any other way, honestly. But I have these bad boys. [Holds up the sneakers from the commercial.]
These were my personal call. I made this executive decision. I said, “I’m wearing the DJ Clark Kent Air Force 1’s.” I’m an aficionado, so I’ve been wearing only Air Force 1’s monogamously for 13 years.
The DJ Clark tribute is so appropriate, considering he’s such a New York legend.
He’s smiling down on us. DJ Clark Kent being God’s favorite DJ — it’s just perfect. Everything about it is so perfect.
How did you sprain your ankle? Was it during the cartwheel?
No; I sprained my wrist on the cartwheel, though. I still have the battle scar. [Holds up his wrist and shows his scar.] But I think it was also the styling choice, right? The styling decision was obviously the shoe. It’s one of those shoes you have to strap up all the way, but when you strap it up all the way, it doesn’t really look cool. I knew I was going to be running, but I anticipated that I would pretend to be running fast, you know what I mean? And Josh was like, “No, no. I need you to run for dear life. I need you to sprint.” And then he mentioned my son’s name: “Think Gianni.” I’m like, [mimes sprinting].
How many takes of the sprinting did you do?
I would say 12 takes. They went in between cameras and different lenses and stuff.
Were you sweating in between? Did they have to mop you off and redo the makeup between each one?
Absolutely. They’re like, “Hey, Chiki, are you okay? You good? Do you need any water?” I almost threw up in between takes.
What other guidance did Josh Safdie give you about how to approach the role as you were preparing to do it and in between takes?
As much as it was a professional setting, it was such informal directions. There wasn’t a script. There wasn’t a call sheet. It was just Josh with what seemed to be a rolling paper with notes on it. It was like the crunchiest of little papers. Whatever texture or fiber of paper it was was somewhere in between a rolling paper and a Post-it Note. Maybe he was going to smoke it after.
All jokes aside, he had this little note that was as big as a Post-it Note, and he was like, “So we’re thinking we’re doing a cartwheel first. Chiki, you good with the cartwheel? Okay, cool. And then you’re going to run past the halal truck, then the taco truck. Then you do a sprint.” He was really helpful just for the simple reason that he was using his facial expressions to communicate. So many times when I wanted to be like, “Hey, I can’t breathe,” Josh would walk over, and it was like I would receive a new gust of wind, and I’d be like, I’m not tired anymore.
There was one point where I did walk off set — respectfully — and I love that everyone respected it. Sometimes people are like, “Hey, we need you back on set! We paid you a lot of money to be here, okay?” It wasn’t like that. My ankle hurt so much in between one of the takes — not where I felt like it was broken, but it just really hurt, and I hadn’t stretched for the occasion. I know that there was a stunt coordinator, and he was amazing, but I felt like there should have been a PT person or a running coach to walk me through how to run on-camera, because running and running on-camera are two different things.
How is your ankle feeling now? Is it better?
I wouldn’t say 100 percent, but it is going to get better. It needs to be better so that I can stand next to the New York Knicks and our New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani at the parade.
I feel like I’m an honorary Knick. I should be the inaugural mascot of sorts. I represent everybody in New York City. Everyone would love to see me. I think that if kids see the person from the Nike commercial on the Knicks parade float with the Knicks and the mayor, kids will literally believe that anything is possible. That would be a perfect avenue for Zohran Mamdani to be ushered in as one of the best mayors of all time — because he would be championing the people’s champion.
I saw you tagged him on Instagram. You haven’t heard anything back yet?
I haven’t heard anything back yet. Fingers crossed. I believe. I believe he’ll have somebody from the New York City Council hit me up, or I’m going to start hitting people up myself.
Where did you watch game five?
I watched it in a bar in Brooklyn called Marco’s, which I frequent, and I was like the local celebrity.
Yesterday, I had a friend show me off to some foreigners. They were in town from Scotland. They came to Boston to see Scotland versus Haiti play the World Cup. And he’s showing them the video, and they’re like, “Okay, cool.” Then he comes back with me 30 minutes later and was like, “Yeah, this is the guy I told you about that owes me $30!” I’m like, “Yeah, I actually owe him $130.”
The ad was meant to capture the feeling on the streets the night the Knicks won. How did it compare to what it actually felt like on the night?
Oh my God. Oh my God! Yo, real life: Nike just hit me up. They’re asking me, “Are you available Thursday?” I think I may be invited to the parade!
That’s amazing!
I think it might have happened in real time. This, right here, is history.
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