The NYPD said Thursday afternoon that more than 2 million people turned out and filled the streets of Lower Manhattan to revel in the Knicks’ achievements and catch a glimpse of their favorite players and the long-coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy they earned.
Bringing so many supporters together allowed them to reflect on a historic run to the title. The Knicks embarked on a 13-game postseason winning streak — the second-longest in NBA history — before overturning double-digit deficits four times in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs to win it all.
“It means everything to the city,” one fan told amNewYork. “We’re all out here. Woke up at 4 o’clock this morning to get here on time. Couldn’t be happier. It’s better with everybody.”
Another likened the atmosphere to the United States “winning a World War,” an event that also featured a parade down the Canyon of Heroes 81 years ago.
“It feels like we’ve won World War II,” he said. “We overcame. We were in the trenches. Since Amar’e Stoudemire, since Tyson Chandler. We made it. We’re all New Yorkers, we’re all family, and we all overcame… Love is what connects us all. We love basketball. We love each other. New York is everything.”
No singular moment will be more memorable, though, than Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, when OG Anunoby’s tip-in with 1.2 seconds left completed a 29-point comeback to give New York a 3-1 series lead.
“I was stunned,” Omar from the Bronx said. “I had to lie back a little bit to try and enjoy it, but I was shocked.”
With over 1 million fans in attendance, parade-goers were stuck in pedestrian traffic from the jump, with some claiming they were stuck in Subway stations near the route for nearly half an hour due to the sheer mass of people.
Some who did not arrive early enough for a front-row seat got creative, climbing sanitation trucks for a bird’s-eye view or attempting to scale the Brooklyn Bridge’s fences after it was closed. Many others were shut out from getting a spot after the viewing areas were deemed at capacity.
“Everybody came as one,” Vincent Gargano, a Knicks fan of 25 years, said. “It’s really brought the city together. How could you not enjoy that?”
This parade has been brewing for over 80 years. While this is the Knicks’ first championship in over five decades, their first two title-winning teams in 1970 and 1973 did not receive ticker-tape parades. And as the franchise has done all throughout the playoffs, they are honoring those who came before this edition of the Knicks.
Eighty-one-year-old Walt “Clyde” Frazier, the legendary point guard who helped lead New York to its first two championships, led the parade in a 1952 Chrysler Imperial Parade Phaeton. Patrick Ewing, the big man who helped the Knicks to a pair of Eastern Conference crowns in 1994 and 1999, was in a car of his own, too. There was an entire float dedicated to Knicks alumni, including Carmelo Anthony and John Starks.
“I’m drained,” Starks told MSG Network. “I had to sit down halfway through this. It was incredible just to see the millions of fans come out, and the joy you felt on that bus and the love they were giving to everybody. Just incredible.”
It’s a full-circle moment for those former players, and assuredly the same for long-time fans who have trudged through decades of suffering.
“This is like a bucket list for me,” an emotional fan told amNewYork. “Last time they won, I was 10 years old… I want to dedicate this to my partner, the guy who played [basketball] with me. He’s not alive right now. Rest in Peace. This one is for you, Angel Rivera. We got it. Fifty-three years.”
The current Knicks champions were distributed to two per bus, and Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby’s shuttle had a special guest: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Mitchell Robinson rode in extra style, as he was set up in the back of his monstrous pick-up truck.
Jalen Brunson, the NBA Finals MVP who scored 45 points in the title-clinching Game 5 triumph, was the keeper of the Larry O’Brien Trophy and was given a float all to himself. He did take a break, however, to walk a portion of the parade route while flanked by photographers and fans alike.
“We really did it, dog,” Brunson marveled. “Somehow, some way, I knew we were going to find a way to get this done. Thank you to the fans. Not gonna lie, y’all are some pretty hard critics, but we appreciate it.”
Off the parade route, the Knicks were received at City Hall and presented with keys to the city, and a particularly impassioned speech from the mayor.
“For 53 long years we have watched, and we have waited,” Mamdani said from the podium at City Hall. “We have watched from nosebleeds and through gritted teeth, on televisions in the windows of electronic stores and from projectors balanced on fire escapes. We have watched alone in our apartments with our heads in our hands, shoulder to shoulder in bars where the signal flickers, and alongside friends and family who we wish more than anything to be here today sharing this moment. For 53 long years, we have watched the Knicks and have waited… New York has just had two of the most magical months that any of us could remember… What a gift it is to be brought together by pure, unfiltered joy.”
“This championship is about you guys,” head coach Mike Brown added. “This is New York City’s championship. I’m so proud of our guys from the top to the bottom. There was a lot of hard work that we put in… Without you, this wouldn’t be possible.”
For more on the Knicks parade, visit AMNY.com
