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Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava (*- Unless otherwise credited).

Basketball in NYC is old school. Boys’ High School Bulletin, #7, May 4, 1898! *- Board of Education Collection, NYC Municipal Archives Photo.

A lot of places in the U.S. are passionate about basketball, and since it was accepted as an Olympic sport in 1930, so are a lot of places around the world. New Yorkers feel a special kinship with the sport, which has been called “the city game,” and NYC, and/or Madison Square Garden (MSG), referred to as “the Mecca” of basketball. NYC has produced 257 NBA players, tops among U.S. cities¹, but that may be a byproduct of how long basketball has been played here. According to the NYC Department of Records & Informations Services, “Basket ball (there was some early confusion whether it was basket ball, basket-ball or basketball) was introduced in New York City schools in the 1890s. It was promoted not just as physical training, but as a moral exercise, whereby. students could be taught the value of teamwork and self-sacrifice.”

No foul?? Where have I seen refereeing like this recently? *-NYC Municipal Archives Photo.

That’s 135, or so, years of hoops in NYC. 

The legendary Walt “Clyde” Frazier at The Metropolitan Museum in front of a display of some of his wardrobe. NYC has seen nothing like the backcourt of Clyde & Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, until this year. *- June 3rd, @metmuseum Photo.

Those 2019 Department of Records words epitomized the 1973 Knicks team that last won the NBA Championship. A true team, of Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Dave DeBusschere and Dick Barnett who won their second title in 4 years (the great Earl “The Pearl” Monroe joining them for the ’73 ride.). Their teamwork bordered on telepathic. Do I need say that 53 years on,  there were a lot of basketball lovers in NYC hungry to experience a title.

A woman in a Knicks shirt passes a street vendor selling nothing by Knicks, June, 2026.

Yet, with all due respect to them, it doesn’t quite add up to what I’ve been experiencing around town during the 2026 NBA Playoffs. When I’ve walked the streets during the Playoffs, it seems that 25% of everyone passing by had a NY Knick item on, or was wearing Knicks team colors blue and/or orange. It’s been a while now, but NYC is no stranger to winning championships. The Yankees who have won 27 times, the last in 2009. The Giants (in 2007 & 2011) and Rangers (in 1994) have both won in living memory. I’ve experienced all of that, seeing the 1999 Yankees win the World Series at the original Yankee Stadium (the last time they won there) and I was at Game 7 when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, and their subsequent Parade). I also saw the Knicks in the first round of the 1973 Playoffs at The Garden on their way to their last title until now,  but nothing has come close to what happened in my neighborhood, and in every other neigborhood in town when the Knicks FINALLY won the Championship late on June 13th.  NONE of what came before in all of those Championships prepared me for what I experienced walking the streets (or trying to), in the hour after the Knicks finally won Game 5 & the title late on June 13th.

Even NYC Busses got into the spirit- one of many things I’ve never seen here before. East 79th Street, June, 2026.

I turned my corner and stepped into a SEA of people filling the sidewalks on both sides of the street. When I got to West 23rd Street, they overflowed into the street, Seventh Avenue- one of the busiest streets in the country- home to Macy’s, Times Square & MSG, completely filling it, a crowd that had to number in the tens of thousands of people, extending as far north as I could see.

Here’s the scene on West 28th Street & 7th Avenue, as far north as I got-

I got home and posted this on Instagram-

Revelrs unfurl the Knick colors on top of the 1 Train Subway Station at 7th Avenue & 28th Street. The tops of the railings some of those folks are standing on are maybe 4 inches wide and lined with spikes!

To clarify- I lived a little over a mile and a half north of Ground Zero on 9/11. The first plane that hit WTC 1 flew down my block! The streets were crowded with people watching and wondering what was going on, while others tried to leave the area, but they all moved along, and traffic moved above Canal Street, where the frozen zone began. The NYC Halloween & Gay Pride Parades pass through my neighborhood, which is also 20 blocks from Times Square and the huge New Year’s Eve Ball Drop. We’re used to crowds here. Still, I’ve NEVER seen ANYTHING remotely like what I saw that night.

Everyone was stuck in place after the crowd stopped making progress heading north. Some tried to get a better view, but all they saw was more people. 7th Avenue & 27th Street.

I was only able to get 5 more blocks north to 28th Street, leaving me 4 short blocks from MSG, when the sea stopped in its tracks. After 15 minutes, I gave up and turned west, where it was exactly the same.

8th Avenue & West 28th Street. This truck is not parked. It’s in the middle of 8th heading towards MSG. It looked to me that the driver opened the passenger door to allow fans to climb up top to dance. The truck never moved while I was there.

I eventually reached 8th Avenue- same thing there, with cars and trucks surrounded in place by the crowd. When I finally got home, I found out why we were stopped in our tracks-

When I said ” a SEA of humanity,” I meant a SEA! This is why I couldn’t get any further than 4 blocks away (to the right). The scene outside MSG. at West 33rd Street & 8th Avenue (where the cars are nearer the camera ), 7th Avenue about halfway up the picture. *- Unknown Photographer.

How to explain it? 

I can’t. I can only speak for myself as one New Yorker. Watching videos from the innumerable watch parties going on around all over the City it seems the reaction was universally cathartic, it was like watching a million people win the lottery at the same time, or watching them in the happiest moment of their lives that just happened to be happening in all these other lives here at the same time. 

Even Trader Joe’s is on board. June 20, 2026.

Yes, a good deal of it is the team. Time and time again they came back and won, showing the moxie NYC loves, along with a belief in each other, and incredible leadership from Captain Jalen Brunson. In Game 4 of the Finals, they overcame a 29-point deficit to win- the largest comeback in NBA Finals history. They were down 20 points in the 4th quarter. You just don’t come back against a Finals-caliber team. Somehow it seemed like they were never out of it. They always found a way- this year. The past two years in the Playoffs, they came up short, and that hurt, big-time. Maybe in the end, it helped them. In the end the ’26 Knicks had reserves of character. 

June 14, 1994, the Rangers win the Stanley Cup in Game 7 of the Finals after 54 years! STILL THE greatest moment in Manhattan sports history, and I was there- slightly left of dead center, in shadow. That’s what happens when you hand your camera to a total stranger and the flash doesn’t go off. There is a bit of detail there. Hopefully, I’ll find someone to fix it one of these days.

Still, watching Games 3 & 4 of the Finals at MSG on TV, I noticed something interesting- no matter how much they were down, the fans never booed them. That’s remarkable. I was at Game 5 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals at Madison Square Garden when the Rangers were up 3 games to 1 and had their first opportunity of winning the Stanley Cup in 54 years, and at home. They went down 0-3 entering the third and final period. People were booing! I couldn’t believe it. COME ON! THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN THE CUP TONIGHT! They wound up losing that game, and losing Game 6. Game 7 was at The Garden, and they won, 3-2. I was there, again. It still ranks as the greatest sports event in Manhattan history ² So, given my experience with the Rangers Game 5, I was VERY surprised there was no booing for the Knicks. Ranger fans waited 54 years for the team to win. Knicks fans waited 53, but they seemed to have more patience. Obviously, most people who are Knicks fans now weren’t even born by 1973. So, most of them haven’t been waiting 53 years. A long time, no doubt, but not 53 years for most. I wonder if there’s something else at work – beyond the love of a great team, a long-term passion for the franchise, or even a love of basketball.

But, what?

Covid gave birth to the now iconic (at least here), “New York or Nowhere!” slogan, which sees a Knicks update on this bag. June 20, 2026.

Another thing I found interesting was that as the Playoffs went on, people began speaking to each other. It happened to me. A stranger would ask if I saw last night’s game, I’d nod yes, and they’d tell me their experience. A fan I’d never met told me he had a ticket for Game 3 of the Finals (at MSG) that night but wasn’t going to go for fear of the security because Trump was going. That reminded me of how I got my 1994 Rangers Game 5 ticket. A woman with a broken arm in a cast sold it to me because she was afraid of the crowd if they won. After the Rangers did win, the crowd was great- joyous and fun. Sure, it was packed all around MSG, but there was no trouble. I saw NYPD lounging around their cars relaxing with their caps sitting on the hood. Same thing last night. While I did not see a single cop, I saw no trouble beyond it being packed, but nobody jostled or pushed. 

“10 Weeks.” A helluva team seen here in this $3,500.00 Signed Photo. *-Fanatics Photo.

What about this unique group of individual players? Jalen Brunson and a few of the other Knicks, have remarkable backstories. They overcame much to get to this point. Jalen Brunson, in particular, on his way to becoming the focal point has revealed he has that “something else,” a self-confidence and belief that his teammates feed on, and becomes charisma to the public. You can see one possible reason for it here. Still, it took time. NBA Extra TV succinctly sums up his evolution in NYC after he signed here as a free agent on July 12, 2022-

NYC has had a LOT of great pro-athletes from Babe Ruth through Mark Messier, Derek Jeter, Eli Manning and Aaron Judge. I can’t say any of them are like Jalen Brunson. They weren’t “us.” He has a bit of Walt Frazier’s cool, but Clyde was a defensive master. Jalen may be more like Earl Monroe, but Monroe was a shooting guard, not a point guard. He’s got Messier’s legendary leadership, and like Jeter & Manning, comes through in the big moments of the big games. Dare I wonder- Is he more like a shorter Michael Jordan (who is 6’6, as was Kobe Bryant)?

Ummm…Jalen’s not taller than most of his teammates.

At 6’2, Jalen is undersized for his position the pundits say. It’s been held against him his entire pre-Knicks career, even though he won 2 NCAA National Championships and a State Basketball Championship. Judge is a BIG man, so it’s easy to expect him to be super-human. Still, being “shorter,” Jalen may be more relatable. Though 6’2 is big, in team pictures he’s obviously not as tall as some of his teammates, and that may make him easier to identify with.

What becomes a legend most? Street cred.

I think a lot of people also relate to him being someone who was never given a chance until he came to NYC. I think a lot of people relate to him “overachieving” (which is wrong when you consider he won the 2016 and 2018 NCAA National Championships),  I think a lot of people relate to how he relates to his teammates, which is obvious when you hear them talk about him, two of them, Josh Hart & Mikael Bridges, were with him when he won in 2016 & 18). The three of them form a nucleus that seems to pull the rest of the team in to its sphere. The Finals were a true test of ALL of this. They were up against a very formidable opponent. San Antonio led 72% of the series. The Knicks winning margin for their 4 wins was 12 points. ON the other hand, during their remarkable Playoff run, they lost 3 of the 19 games they played- by a total of 6 points!

As remarkable as all of that is, I believe there’s something more at work here. 

Most of the Photos I took for this piece show something I’ve never seen before, like this- The Grand Staircase at The Metropolitan Museum of Art goes all out for the Knicks. June 19th, the day after their Parade drew 2 million.

I think the Knicks are so very popular because they come across as a family. A good deal of the credit for this has to go to Leon Rose, who built this team over the past 7? years.It started crazily early- Knicks fun fact- Knicks President, Leon Rose, the Architect of this team, and Rick Brunson’s agent at the time, met newborn Jalen Brunson before Jalen’s dad, Rick Brunson, who was playing in Australia, did! In his interview after the Kicks got the Trophy, he said as much, that he wanted a team that was a family, and he and the organization has made a point of treating them that way. It showed. In their interviews after the game last night, players after player talked about how special it was to win it all with THIS group. That nucleus of 3 I mentioned had won before (probably a reason Mr. Rose brought them together here), came in knowing how to win, yes, but they also have close personal bonds. It appears contagious. 

NYC has been different since 9/11. Something of the City’s soul was stolen from us (and from countless other people in Washington, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere) that day. We lost close to 3,000 people that were an essential part of the fabric of the City, and two towers that were signature pieces of our identity. I remember walking by that space when the World Trade Center was being built in the 1970s. It’s STILL hard for me to believe that two structures so INCREDIBLY BIG are gone. You had to stand there, in their shadows, to really know what I mean. 

The celebration continues. 8th Avenue & 28th Street, late on June 13th.

It seems to me that somehow, based on everything I’ve seen & experienced these past 2 months almost 25 years later already, these Knicks are helping to heal the City. There may not be a lot of Knicks fans who were around in 1973, but I’m sure there are a lot who were around in 2001. 

And on 28th Street near 7th Avenue

Walking the streets of my neighborhood, 10 blocks from MSG, there was a dull roar that was omnipresent in the background. It wasn’t the NYPD helicopters, it was the sound of continual and constant yelling off in the distance. I hadn’t heard it before. It was drowned out by yelling and cheering closer to me most of the time, but when that died down, it was there. It took A LOT of people yelling & screaming at the same time to produce, and I’ll never forget it.

Ditto.

I was at the Rangers Parade in 1994, which drew 2 million, I managed to get a block away from the procession, reached up as high as I could, and snapped a picture as the Stanley Cup went by. Two million people returned to the Canyon of Heroes this past Thursday for the Knicks. Now that it’s all over, while fans will continue to celebrate in their own smaller ways, I wonder if the new-found togetherness & openness will continue. I wonder what the lasting impact of this Knicks Championship will be on NYC.

Court of dreams. West 21st Street, June, 2026.

Walking around late on June 13th, I saw New York City at its best- something I haven’t seen since 9/11. I saw a City, like its basketball team, that kept on keeping on, and overcame everything in its path to get to this shining moment.

“We believed,” it says.

I hope we keep finding them.

*- Soundtrack for this piece is, what else? Hell’s Kitchen’s own Alicia Keys’ performance of “Empire State of Mind ” with her son, Egypt, at the Knicks Championship Celebration at City Hall, June 18, 2026-

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