NBA champion Knicks receive a heroes’ welcome in New York as jubilant players hang out of
The NBA champion New York Knicks are back in the Big Apple after arriving home on a charter flight from San Antonio just hours after winning the title.
The Knicks beat the Spurs 94-90 in Game 5 on Saturday night, sealing a first championship in 53 years and sparking mayhem on the streets of New York.
The players themselves didn’t wait long to get back, boarding a Delta charter flight from San Antonio to Westchester County Airport early on Sunday morning, where they were met by hordes of fans just minutes after stepping off the plane.
Upon landing on the tarmac in White Plains, two fire trucks sprayed an arc of water over the plane – the traditional salute given as a mark of respect.
After the history-making stars disembarked the aircraft, they hopped into separate vehicles to head home, but many rolled down the windows and hung out to celebrate with the jubilant supporters.
Jordan Clarkson was among the players happy to continue the party, signing autographs and high-fiving fans as his SUV rolled out of the airport.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were the first Knicks players off the place in New York
Brunson and Josh Hart sat side-by-side on the plane ride back from Texas on Sunday morning
Jordan Clarkson hung out of the window of his blacked-out SUV to celebrate with fans
Clarkson high-fived fans who had traveled to Westchester, as well as signing autographs
In a video on his Instagram, Jeremy Sochan leaned out of his own car at high speed and inadvertently lost the goggles he was wearing on his head.
It was MVP Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns who were given the ultimate honor of carrying the Larry O’Brien trophy off the plane.
Fans at the scene reported that Brunson then drove himself home, with his NBA Finals MVP trophy strapped into the passenger seat alongside him.
Towns also waved to fans from his own car, while legend Patrick Ewing was alongside the current players in the convoy leaving the airport.
The Knicks players will now have a few days to recover before they head on a trophy parade through the streets of New York on Thursday.
It was revealed on Sunday morning that the parade will begin in Battery Park, before traveling north up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes before concluding at City Hall.
That is the same route as some of New York’s other sporting superstars have followed in recent years.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown still looked jubilant as he too rolled down the window
Jeremy Sochan hung out the window of his SUV and accidentally lost his goggles in the wind
In 2024, the WNBA’s New York Liberty delighted fans from their open-top bus, while back in February 2012, Eli Manning led the then-Super Bowl champions on a ticker-tape celebration through the same streets.
It is expected that the parade celebrations will involve more of the remarkable scenes that saw the city party through the night on Saturday into Sunday.
While many danced through the streets of Manhattan, there were unsavory scenes near Times Square, where a teenager was shot in the foot and four people were stabbed.
The NYPD confirmed that 63 fans were arrested during the madness, with 10 police officers injured – including one that was punched in the face and another that was struck with a glass bottle.