The vibes were impeccable at Thursday\u2019s New York Knicks championship parade.<\/p>\n
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s speech was near-universally praised, James Dolan aside<\/a>.<\/p>\n And many other city politicians got the chance to speak about how the Knicks overcame adversity and the odds to defeat the San Antonio Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals and bring home the franchise\u2019s first NBA title since 1973.<\/p>\n However, WFAN\u2019s Gregg Giannotti didn\u2019t appreciate one aspect of at least one of those speeches.<\/p>\n One half of the Boomer & Gio show was fired up on Friday\u2019s show over a reference to the events of the September 11 attacks, saying that he\u2019s sick and tired of 9\/11 being used as a comparison to anything a sports team accomplishes.<\/p>\n Gio is fed up with politicians comparing a New York sports team\u2019s fighting spirit to overcoming 9\/11: pic.twitter.com\/dUuEhp2gMt<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) June 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cFor the respect of the people that lost their lives in 9\/11 and the families, can we stop comparing a sports team coming back from 29 points to the city recovering from 9\/11?\u201d Gio asked. \u201cLike, I love sports. If I didn\u2019t have sports, I wouldn\u2019t have this job, I wouldn\u2019t have my life. But I can separate those two things.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Just like we came back from 9\/11, the Knicks came back in this game.\u2019 Please. Can we stop short of that? I mean, it\u2019s\u2014 we got the 25th remembrance this year of 9\/11. And it just made my skin crawl.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t wait for that mayoral speech,\u201d added the very partisan Boomer Esiason<\/a>.<\/p>\n Specifically, Gio was reacting to a speech by City Comptroller Mark Levine.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not back down, no matter how far behind we are,\u201d Levine said<\/a>. \u201cWe were down on 9\/11, and we came back. We were down in (Hurricane) Sandy, and we came back. We were down during COVID, and we came back. We were down against the Cavs, against the Spurs \u2026 and we came back. We are New York. We don\u2019t stop fighting. You should be afraid of us. We are the champs because of the New York Knicks.\u201d<\/p>\n Tracy Morgan, one of the many celebrity Knicks fans who attended games and supported the team during their playoff run, also made a similar reference<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a fair point by Giannotti, as the events of Sept. 11 are hardly comparable to the events that take place on a basketball court. And while Levine sounds well-intentioned, it\u2019s not a quote that looks great on paper or even really speaks to how New Yorkers feel about that tragedy. The crowd\u2019s lack of enthusiasm after he said it spoke volumes.<\/p>\n Just because we can imagine some people are jumping to the conclusion that Gio is responding to Mamdani (especially since the WFAN clip of his comments includes a photo of Mamdani), the mayor did not reference September 11 in his speech on Thursday. The only thing he said that could be construed as a passing mention was that the city has often had to come together in the face of tragedy, which made it all the more joyful to do so in celebration.<\/p>\n this is honestly an excellent celebratory and motivational speech from Mamdani at the Knicks parade. i\u2019m ready to run through a wall, and i\u2019m not even a Knicks fan<\/p>\n [image or embed]<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com<\/a>) June 18, 2026 at 9:54 AM<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSo often when this city comes together, it is because we are forced to by a moment of tragedy or adversity,\u201d said Mamdani. \u201cWhat a gift it is to be brought together by pure, unfiltered joy.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s how you do it, regardless of how Esiason might feel.<\/p>\n \t