{"id":271136,"date":"2026-06-18T18:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271136\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T18:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T18:58:13","slug":"new-york-knicks-revel-in-their-nba-victory-parade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/271136\/","title":{"rendered":"New York Knicks revel in their NBA victory parade"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Jalen Brunson raised the NBA championship trophy to the crowd, inviting fans to reach out and touch it, as the NBA Finals MVP<\/a> and the rest of the New York Knicks were honored in the city\u2019s classic style with a ticker-tape parade Thursday for the franchise\u2019s first title in 53 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes everything worth it,\u201d said Brunson, a Stevenson High School alumnus. \u201cI can\u2019t put it into words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confetti in the Knicks\u2019 blue and orange swirled through the air as thousands of people watched the parade roll up Broadway, the skyscraper-flanked \u201cCanyon of Heroes.\u201d OG Anunoby, who scored the go-ahead basket<\/a> in Game 4 of the Finals on a tip-in with 1.2 seconds left, left his float to interact with fans, holding the NBA Cup in-season championship trophy in one hand and a bottle of Patron tequila in the other.<\/p>\n

Film director Spike Lee, perhaps the team\u2019s most iconic fan, was on a float with Brunson, savoring the moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been to a parade \u2014 ever \u2014 and I\u2019m glad it\u2019s this one,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n

The MVP\u2019s mom, Sandra Brunson, wearing a shirt with photos of Jalen and husband Rick, a Knicks assistant coach, echoed her son\u2019s words: \u201cIt was all worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns hoisted the Eastern Conference championship trophy and a cigar on top of a parade bus, alongside a dancing Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a huge Knicks fan. On a nearby float with other alumni, Carmelo Anthony had a victory cigar of his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole city won,\u201d Anthony said. \u201cNew Yorkers are, as they say, \u2018lit\u2019 right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Massive cheers of \u201cLet\u2019s go, Knicks!\u201d erupted from the crowd as the trophy float made its way near City Hall, the parade\u2019s endpoint, where players were expected to get keys to the city.<\/p>\n

Knicks fans turn out in force<\/p>\n

People streamed into the area on crammed subways, looking to get as close as they could or find any elevated spot to catch a glimpse.<\/p>\n

Several blocks from the parade route, fans stood shoulder to shoulder \u2014 sometimes on each other\u2019s shoulders \u2014 or climbed traffic lights, sanitation trucks or Knicks-colored buckets they\u2019d brought from home. Far away on the Brooklyn Bridge, people gathered just to hear the loudspeakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to be here today,\u201d said Shareefa Wallace, 34, who got up at 3 a.m. to make her way from suburban Long Island. She grew up in the city going to Knicks games, and she sported the souvenir jersey of one of the legends from that era, Patrick Ewing.<\/p>\n

\u2018The New York vibe\u2019<\/p>\n

Nearby bars and delis filled with fans, some wishing they\u2019d arrived at dawn. But many seemed at peace with the fact they would experience the parade from a distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fine with the fray, we just want to be with the New York energy and the New York vibe,\u201d said Jean Strong, who came to the parade from Harlem with his nephew and sister.<\/p>\n

Terrell Emerson, a chef who grew up in Queens before leaving New York, said he drove from Maryland with his daughter Madison \u2014 named in honor of the Knicks\u2019 home arena, Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n

Madison, beaming, held a handwritten sign announcing she skipped her fifth-grade graduation to be there.<\/p>\n

Stars and Knicks legends<\/p>\n

Knicks legend Walt \u201cClyde\u201d Frazier \u2014 a member of the 1970s champion teams<\/a> \u2014 led off the parade, riding along in style in a convertible and wearing his NBA title rings. Frazier had late teammates and coaches on his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would be amazed at what has happened to the Knicks and how they\u2019ve really captivated the city this year,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cThis has exceeded any expectations I ever thought that we\u2019d have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knicks play-by-play announcer Mike Breen was set to emcee the City Hall ceremony. Ben Stiller captured photos and videos from a parade vehicle.<\/p>\n

Alicia Keys, the singer who collaborated with Jay-Z on the New York-loving 2009 hit \u201cEmpire State of Mind,\u201d was tapped to perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow could I not?\u201d Keys said Wednesday in a social media video that featured her on the phone with Anunoby.<\/p>\n

Massive security operation<\/p>\n

Police planned to deploy 10,000 officers to secure the event, which followed ebullient but sometimes chaotic street celebrations and some violence<\/a> during the Knicks\u2019 run to victory over the San Antonio Spurs.<\/p>\n

At one point before the parade, a small group of people was crushed against a barrier near Fulton Street, a key subway hub, pinned between a swelling crowd and a group of police officers shoving the barrier to keep fans penned in.<\/p>\n

About 650 sanitation workers were assigned to clean up what could be tens of thousands of pounds of debris, if recent history is any guide.<\/p>\n

AP\u2019s Jennifer Peltz, Julie Walker and Stephen Whyno in New York and Brian Mahoney in Southampton, N.Y., contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 Jalen Brunson raised the NBA championship trophy to the crowd, inviting fans to reach out…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28627,10095,41495,4777,1555,103047,37011,9,11,1104,10,6474,19549,27941],"class_list":["post-271136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-alicia-keys","tag-ben-stiller","tag-canyon-of-heroes","tag-jalen-brunson","tag-karl-anthony-towns","tag-knicks-parade","tag-nba-finals","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-new-york-news","tag-og-anunoby","tag-spike-lee","tag-ticker-tape-parade"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271136","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=271136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}