Spike Lee, Timothée Chalamet, and other famous New Yorkers and Hollywood celebrities were in the Big Apple on Thursday as the city celebrated the New York Knicks with a ticker-tape parade in lower Manhattan after the team defied odds with two historic comeback games in a streak that ended Saturday with the team winning its first NBA Finals in 53 years.
The Knicks’ historic win was incredible television, not only because the team won the championship last week over the San Antonio Spurs in five games, but because some of Hollywood’s biggest stars were right there watching the action courtside in what became known as “celebrity row.”
On Thursday, Lee, Chalamet and fellow Knicks megafan Mariska Hargitay were downtown to support their team after making it to watch the games at Madison Square Garden as a fervor overtook midtown Manhattan on game nights over the past two weeks, whether the teams were facing off at the city’s famed home arena or in San Antonio.
The Thursday parade began at 10 a.m. near Battery Park and traveled north along Broadway through the iconic Canyon of Heroes before ending at City Hall.
Lee, probably the team’s number one fan, rode on a float with NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson. At the same time, Chalamet, who attended all of the Finals games, including in San Antonio, riled up the crowd as he led attendees in a “Let’s go, Knicks!” chant while standing atop a double-decker bus. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani was also there to celebrate the team, which took the championship title in his first year in office. He rode on a float with star center Karl-Anthony Towns and forward OG Anunoby.
