{"id":703618,"date":"2026-06-14T13:40:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T13:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703618\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T13:40:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T13:40:08","slug":"its-euphoria-new-york-city-celebrates-knicks-nba-title-win-after-53-year-wait-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/703618\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s euphoria\u2019: New York City celebrates Knicks\u2019 NBA title win after 53-year wait | New York"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marvita Davis, 70, was a teenager in Harlem the last time the New York<\/a> Knicks won a championship, in 1973.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, Oh, I like this game. I can get into this game,\u201d recalled Davis, who went on to play basketball at Northeastern University.<\/p>\n

She maintained her love of hoops \u2013 even though she had knee and hip replacements and can no longer play \u2013 and her love of the Knicks, despite their more than a half-century of futility. \u201cI will support all my hometown teams, regardless of how bad they are,\u201d said Davis, a retired computer programmer.<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, that longstanding fanhood paid off when the Knicks finally won an NBA<\/a> title again by defeating the San Antonio Spurs in five games.<\/p>\n

Davis watched as the game was projected onto a screen on the front lawn of her apartment building with other residents in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. Others watched from bars<\/a> in the East Village and fire escapes<\/a> in the West Village and erupted as the clock hit zero.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s euphoria,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

That was the feeling throughout all five boroughs. Car horns, fireworks, \u201cLet\u2019s go Knicks\u201d chants and Jay-Z\u2019s Empire State Of Mind and Frank Sinatra\u2019s Theme From New York, New York filled the streets, subways and bars until well after midnight. (Some shouted an expletive<\/a> directed at Spurs star Victor Wembanyama too.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city is alive, man, like never before,\u201d said Nick Pineda, a 47-year Bronx resident who works in information technology and watched the game at Habana Outpost, a Brooklyn restaurant that also projected the game outdoors.<\/p>\n

Firefighters drove through the city holding a Knicks blanket. Even bus drivers got some love from residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cB-52! B-52! B-52!\u201d fans who filled sidewalks in Brooklyn chanted as a bus rolled past.<\/p>\n

Predictably, as after most championships \u2013 even ones less than a half-century in the making \u2013 some fans climbed atop traffic lights<\/a> and a police car<\/a>.<\/p>\n

New York Knicks fans climb on buses as they celebrate after they win the NBA Finals in Times Square. Photograph: Adam Gray\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Rashid Taylor, a 51-year-old Brooklyn native, said Jalen Brunson was the driver that guided them to the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got the champion, fearless leader just taking them through all the fire,\u201d Taylor said of Brunson, who scored 45 points in the Game 5 win. \u201cThis team is just heart and soul and passion and not backing down.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is only more celebration ahead. Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a ticker tape parade on 18 June, and said city hall will present the team the keys to the city \u2013 a symbolic gesture to recognize New York\u2019s notable citizens.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor more than 50 years, New Yorkers have waited for this moment,\u201d Mamdani said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThrough near misses, heartbreak and a hope that every year could be our year, this city never stopped believing in the Knicks. And this team fulfilled that hope with grit, resilience and heart \u2013 just like the five boroughs itself.\u201d<\/p>\n