NEW YORK, June 18 (Xinhua) -- New Yorkers celebrated the Knicks' NBA championship victory with a historic ticker-tape parade on Thursday, as hundreds of thousands of fans filled the streets of Lower Manhattan to honor the team's long-awaited title.
After 53 years, the Knicks returned to the top of the NBA, and generations of fans poured into the streets. The parade started near Battery Park and moved up Broadway through the "Canyon of Heroes," ending at City Hall with a traditional ceremony honoring the team with keys to the city presented by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Jalen Brunson, the Knicks' leader and NBA Finals MVP, delivered remarks at New York City Hall.
"New York, we really did it," Brunson said. "Somehow, some way, I knew we were gonna find a way to get this done."
Brunson scored 45 points in the championship-clinching Game 5 win over San Antonio.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown attributed the team's historic success to "everybody" during his remarks.
"I'm proud of everybody for helping accomplish this great feat," Brown said. "The energy today, and all around New York, is off the charts."
"For 53 years, we watched. For 53 years, we waited. Now, we've won," Mamdani said at City Hall. He said the Knicks has brought the city "together as one."
The Knicks previously won championships in 1970 and 1973, but Thursday marked the first time a citywide parade had been held to celebrate the victory.
More than 10,000 members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) were assigned to the parade, the largest number of officers ever assigned to any planned event, according to the NYPD.
Ticker-tape parades derive their name from the narrow strips of paper used by telegraph-era "stock ticker" machines. Workers at New York brokerage firms began tossing the paper from office windows during parades in the late 19th century, adding a swirling aerial spectacle to the festivities, local media reported.
The Knicks' parade marked the city's 210th ticker-tape parade, and came after a ticker-tape celebration for the WNBA's New York Liberty in 2024.
The Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 on the road in Game 5 of the 2025-26 NBA Finals to clinch the series 4-1. ■
