LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The celebrations are not over for the New York Knicks' first championship since 1973. On Thursday, New York City threw a victory parade through Manhattan. Reporter Steve Kastenbaum was there.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
STEVE KASTENBAUM: The Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan has hosted more than 200 ticker tape parades through the years, but very few have united New Yorkers the way they came together beneath those skyscrapers for the Knicks.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Let's go Knicks. Let's go Knicks.
KASTENBAUM: So many fans came out to celebrate, police had to turn people away more than two hours before the parade started. Sean Baranov (ph) brought his family.
SEAN BARANOV: It's overwhelming, honestly. I never thought I'd witness this in my lifetime. It's incredible. It's like I said, it's overwhelming. To experience it here with my kids and my wife is just - it's a dream come true, honestly.
KASTENBAUM: Shane Grittin (ph) is such a big Knicks fan that she took a job at Madison Square Garden 15 years ago in order to be close to the team. When they finally won the championship, beating San Antonio in five games, she said...
SHANE GRITTIN: I cried (laughter). Want me to be totally honest, I cried because I'm so proud of these guys, man. We've been through a lot throughout these past years. And like I've said, I've been in that building since 2011. Me actually now seeing them make it past the semifinals, make it, you know, go throughout the playoffs and make it into the finals? Come on, now. And we actually did it, we did it?
KASTENBAUM: The team concluded the celebration on the steps of City Hall, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave the players keys to the city. He counts himself among the long-suffering Knicks fans.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: We waited without ever knowing if this day would come. And we waited because we knew deep down in our sick, suffering hearts that it would. New York City, this team has done it. The New York Knicks are NBA champions.
(CHEERING)
KASTENBAUM: Team captain and MVP Jalen Brunson said they got it done for the city.
JALEN BRUNSON: We really did it, dog. Somehow, some way, I knew we were going to find a way to get this done. Most importantly, thank you to the fans.
(CHEERING)
KASTENBAUM: Fifty-three years in the making, New York was finally able to take a victory lap. James Dolan, the team's owner, said they accepted an invitation to visit the White House. For NPR News, I'm Steve Kastenbaum at City Hall in New York.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EMPIRE STATE OF MIND")
JAY-Z: (Rapping) Sitting courtside, Knicks and Nets give me high fives. I be spiked out - I could trip a referee. Tell by my attitude that I'm most definitely from...
ALICIA KEYS: (Singing) In New York. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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