{"id":261522,"date":"2026-06-10T04:17:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/261522\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T04:17:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T04:17:17","slug":"how-the-knicks-jose-alvarado-fought-his-way-home-to-nyc-and-why-everything-about-him-screams-new-york-former-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/261522\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Knicks\u2019 Jose Alvarado \u2018fought\u2019 his way home to NYC \u2014 and why \u2018everything about him screams New York\u2019: former coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Knicks point guard Jose Alvarado collided with former mayor Mike Bloomberg<\/a> while chasing a loose ball in Game 3 \u2014 and then made sure the 83-year-old was OK \u2014 it was no surprise to those who grew up coaching the determined-but-kind kid from the Brooklyn projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe fought and he fought and he fought,\u201d Dan Klores said of a teenage Alvarado\u2019s focus and grit playing for him in the New York RENS youth league.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

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He recalled one game where the team was vying for a championship. A young Alvarado dove for a loose ball and collided with another kid who was \u201cbuilt like a football player.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two smashed heads \u2014\u00a0hard.<\/p>\n

\"It<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t get any more New York than Jose Alvarado, #5 on the New York Knicks. He was born in Brooklyn and played basketball at Christ the King in Middle Village, Queens. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the sudden, there\u2019s more blood on this floor than I\u2019ve ever seen in my life. I grew up in Coney Island and I was in the army. I never saw the amount of blood. It was swimming out of his head. It covered half the floor. The other kid\u2019s two front teeth went into his head,\u201d Klores said.<\/p>\n

Alvarado was taken away on a stretcher and the team lost the game. But, they still had a chance at the championship and Alvarado insisted on playing again.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe says to me, \u2018Dan, I\u2019m playing.\u2019 I said, \u2018Jose, are you kidding me? You can\u2019t play.\u2019 His father comes over to me, Jose Sr., he says, \u2018Coach that\u2019s my son. He\u2019s playing,’\u201d Klores said. \u201cWe [went on to] win the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In 2016, he was named the Catholic High School Athletic Association\u2019s Player of the Year for averaging 16 points per game while he played ball at Christ the King. AP<\/p>\n

Alvarado grew up in the Lindsay Park Housing Corp. projects in Williamsburg<\/a>, the son of an electrician and a stay-at-home mom.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a tough New York kid,\u201d Joe Arbitello, who coached Alvarado in high school at Christ the King in Middle Village, Queens, told The Post. \u201cIt was a tough area of New York. There were some gangs there \u2014 unpleasantries. He was able to stay away from that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The sharpshooter was a star<\/a> at Christ the King. In 2016, he was named the Catholic High School Athletic Association\u2019s Player of the Year for averaging 16 points per game.<\/p>\n

But, St. John\u2019s, Duke and Miami all passed on him for college. He went on to play at Georgia Tech, where, in his senior year, he led the Yellow Jackets to their first ACC Champion Ship title since 1993<\/a> and was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

\"After<\/p>\n

After five seasons in New Orleans, Alvarado was traded to the Knicks this past February, finally joining the team he grew up idolizing. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"Jose<\/p>\n

Jose Alvarado and his pregnant partner Flor Castilo share two daughters, Nazanin and Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

He declared for the 2021 NBA draft, but went undrafted.<\/p>\n

Unwilling to let his NBA dreams die, he reached out to Klores.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe comes to me and says, \u2018Dan, can you connect me to a trainer? Because I\u2019m not going to make the NBA,’\u201d recalls Klores, a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker.<\/p>\n

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Soon after, he was offered a contract deal with the New Orleans Pelicans.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Alvarado<\/p>\n

Alvarado grew up in the Lindsay Park Housing Corp. projects in Williamsburg, the son of an electrician and a stay-at-home mom. Dennis A. Clark<\/p>\n

\"Grand<\/p>\n

Grand Theft Alvarado \u2014 as he\u2019s been christened for his ball-stealing skills \u2014 had a high energy game on Tuesday, despite the hard loss to the Spurs, 115-111. AP Photo\/Ross D. Franklin<\/p>\n

When it happened, Alvarado \u201cbroke down in tears. He couldn\u2019t stop crying,\u201d Klores recalled.<\/p>\n

After five seasons in New Orleans, where he distinguished himself with his defensive prowess, Alvarado was traded to the Knicks<\/a> this past February, finally joining the team he grew up idolizing.<\/p>\n

It was a full circle moment for the scrappy, 28-year-old point guard, who is still with his high school sweetheart, Flor Castilo, and named one of his two daughters Brooklyn. (Castillo is currently pregnant with their first son.)<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything about him screams New York. He\u2019s a lovable kid,\u201d said Arbitello, who notes that Alvarado regularly returns to his alma mater to speak to the kids.<\/p>\n

\"\u201cEverything<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything about him screams New York. He\u2019s a lovable kid,\u201d said Joe Arbitello, who coached Alvarado in high school at Christ the King in Middle Village, Queens. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe comes back [to Christ the King] a lot. I don\u2019t think he understands he\u2019s a celebrity celebrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Grand Theft Alvarado \u2014\u00a0as he\u2019s been christened for his ball-stealing skills \u2014 had a high energy game on Tuesday, despite the hard loss to the Spurs, 115-111.<\/a><\/p>\n

Arbitello spoke with him last weekend and isn\u2019t worried.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants to win,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s always been the most important thing to him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Knicks point guard Jose Alvarado collided with former mayor Mike Bloomberg while chasing a loose ball in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":261523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[101573,92672,101570,101572,101571,34179,2609,9137,9,1104,56,63,65,64,101574,122],"class_list":["post-261522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-catholic-high-school-athletic-association","tag-christ-the-king","tag-dan-klores","tag-grand-theft-alvarado","tag-joe-arbitello","tag-jose-alvarado","tag-middle-village","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-played-basketball","tag-queens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}