{"id":722393,"date":"2026-06-08T05:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T05:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/722393\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T05:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T05:00:14","slug":"nba-finals-knicks-in-four-hear-them-roar-100000-tickets-as-new-york-goes-nba-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/722393\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA finals: \u2018Knicks in four,\u2019 hear them roar: $100,000 tickets as New York goes NBA crazy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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New York: When the final seconds ticked down and the Knicks claimed a one-point victory over the San Antonio Spurs in game 2 of the NBA finals, New York City roared in unison.<\/p>\n

At the burger joint on East 35th where we watched the fourth, nail-biting quarter, to the Playwright Irish pub a few doors down, and so on and so on, the cheers erupted from bars and restaurants and balconies, and barrelled through the cavernous streets of Midtown Manhattan.<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynBrooklyn Rapper Kosha Dillz (centre) performs with New York Knicks fans outside Madison Square Garden.Andrew Kelly<\/p>\n

Cars honked their horns, bikes revved their engines, people screamed and hugged strangers on the sidewalk. Outside Madison Square Garden, which hosted a watch party on its jumbo screens, they partied in the streets, climbing light poles and singing the riff from Seven Nation Army. The tourist tuk tuks blasted Empire State of Mind \u2013 and for once, even the locals sang along.<\/p>\n

Knicks mania has hit New York, infecting the city with a pep beyond even its usual frenzied energy. The men\u2019s basketball team has made the finals for the first time since 1999, in a competition they haven\u2019t won since 1973, and they now lead the best-of-seven series 2-0.<\/p>\n

After two games in Texas, the next two will be held at New York\u2019s famous Madison Square Garden, with a slew of celebrities in the packed house, including President Donald Trump, a long-time fan. The Knicks can sweep the finals 4-0 and claim the Larry O\u2019Brien Championship Trophy if they win both those home games.<\/p>\n

Versions of the \u201cKnicks in four\u201d chant can be heard across the city. One TikTok video has gone especially viral, featuring a Knicks fan yelling: \u201cMy mayor Muslim, my bagel Jewish, my Christian Dior \u2013 Knicks in four!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SonyaSonya Badger (left) and Colin Ray outside Madison Square Garden ahead of game 2 of the NBA finals.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

Outside Madison Square Garden on Friday night, Sonya Badger and Colin Ray were decked out in their Knicks jerseys, gold chains and team tattoos. Badger was here at MSG 27 years ago when the Knicks last played finals and lost the series to, yes, the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the buzzer went off I did not look at the floor because I did not want to see them celebrate on our court,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n

The mood on the street this time has been electric, Badger confirms. \u201cOh my god, it\u2019s crazy. People walk up to each other and just high-five. We don\u2019t even say anything, just high-five. Just passing by, \u2018Let\u2019s go Knicks\u2019 \u2013 no matter what borough you\u2019re in. It\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This masthead also encountered Matt Ginsburg and Owen Heller, two 21-year-old Knicks fans from New Jersey, and Nick Conforti, a recent bandwagon Knicks fan who dressed as a cow, including udders and a bucket that says \u201c#MOOtion\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"SportsSports fan Nick Conforti outside Madison Square Garden for a watch party for game 2.Michael Koziol<\/p>\n

An American football kicker and punter, Conforti has an amateur sports podcast and said his dream was to go to Brisbane to watch the Brisbane Lions play an AFL game.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all celebration, though. The price of admission to Knicks home games has stunned and angered many fans, and sparked another conversation about the place of regular New Yorkers in a city that has long been a playground for bankers, lawyers, celebrities and the ultrarich.<\/p>\n

Stars such as Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Timothee Chalamet, Tracy Morgan and Chris Rock are regulars<\/a> in the courtside seats known as Celebrity Row, where seats are invite-only and can\u2019t be bought. Other tickets are snapped up by resellers and offered for an exorbitant price.<\/p>\n

On Friday morning, the cheapest tickets for Monday night\u2019s game were in section 420, way up the back of the arena, and selling at $US8170 each ($11,600). One courtside seat was listed as \u201camazing\u201d value at $US43,563. Another pair were selling for just over $US88,000 each.<\/p>\n

\"KnicksKnicks mania has taken over New York City, with the home team making the NBA finals for the first time since 1999.Andrew Kelly<\/p>\n

Even tickets for the watch parties, when the games are held interstate, have sold out and are being resold at massively inflated prices. \u201cI saw one for $609, and it\u2019s a $10 ticket,\u201d Badger said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel a little repulsed because these people are buying up these tickets to resell them at a higher price to put money in their pockets, while the real fans can\u2019t get tickets.\u201d<\/p>\n

New York City\u2019s democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has interviewed residents on the street about the price of Knicks tickets, and used it as a segue to conversations about the cost of housing and living.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe 34th Street subway station has been decked out in Knicks colours, as have many New York City skyscrapers.Andrew Kelly<\/p>\n

While he has admitted that reducing NBA ticket prices might be beyond his abilities, the city has secured 1000 tickets to the soccer World Cup, which are being offered to New Yorkers in a lottery for $US50 a seat, including free bus transport to MetLife Stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cSports should not become a luxury commodity,\u201d Mamdani has said. He attended a game during the eastern conference finals, for which he said he paid face value of $US700 to sit in the nosebleeds.<\/p>\n

Outside Madison Square Garden for Friday night\u2019s game, Badger and Ray were not discouraged. \u201cCorporate is going to make their money, it is what it is,\u201d said Ray. \u201cBut we still here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"MichaelMichael Koziol<\/a> is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-722393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=722393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}