This past weekend the Knicks won their first NBA championship since 1973.
Before heading to the Knicks parade in New York City, OG Anunoby stopped at Dicks Sporting Goods in Yonkers on Wednesday night to take pictures with fans.
“OG! OG! OG!” The Crowd chanted, “We love you OG!”
Yolanda Wingate brought her dog, Deena, and got a picture with Anunoby.
“I was five years old when they won [their last title]. My dad brought me, and he's since gone, but I had to be here for him. For my dad. This was the greatest thing ever. And I lived to be able to see it. How wonderful! and I'm able to bring my dog. OG took a picture with us, and I'm happy. Go Knicks! I can't wait for next year,” Wingate said.
And she said he was a pleasure to interact with, “He was the nicest. He was actually going to sign my paper. He was going to do it, but his security said no. But he was reaching down to do it for me. That tells me his character, that tells me who he is.”
“I'm so glad he chose the Knicks,” Wingate said.
English-borne Anunoby, whose parents hails Nigeria, joined the Knicks in 2024.
And Anunoby had no small role in the Knicks win. In Game 4 of the finals after almost a 30-point comeback, with 5 and half seconds to go and the Spurs up by one point, Jalen Brunson shot a three pointer that bounced off the rim. But undefended Anunoby flew across the court to tip the ball in just in time and score the game winning point and the crowd exploded. New York lost its mind and so did Wingate.
“Let me tell you, when he did that tip off, I almost flipped off the wheelchair. Everybody was like, ‘be careful’. I was like agh, because it looked grim, right? It looked grim. When that tip off came, it was like slow motion in my house, everyone was chanting, you could hear people outside. It was the greatest thing ever. I had a tear. I just wish my dad could have been here with me. Oh my gosh, we would have rejoiced together,” Wingate said.
Angel Sagera said, ““I ran ten blocks after that. I went from 251st to 242nd.”
Kiara Ray said she’s not biggest basketball fan of all time, but she had to show up for her mom who is a super Knicks fan.
When Anunoby scored the winning point in Game 4 she said she was screaming and hollering just like her mom.
She said this win is everything, “It's literally history. This is New York history, right now. I mean, it's been 53 years. New York has always been a collection of people with heart. A collection of people that you can't turn off, no matter how long that we've been losing or how long things have been back and forth.”
And Ray told me - like so many fans did - she’s happy to see so all the new Knicks fans.
“I feel like New York, at the end of the day, it boils down to heart,” Ray said, “And if we're all moving with each other. If you're a true Knicks fan, you're not gonna be mad at somebody else hopping on the train late. It's just more support for the Knicks, it's more support for the team, It's more New York heart.”
Wingate said the Knicks win literally brought up the entire city’s morale, “New York has been going through the economy, of course, with the gas. Our morale was at a low, high rents, high mortgages. Look at around you. All of us are here together. No one's fighting. No one's arguing. No one's talking about politics. We are all here because New York won. You can't beat that. You can't beat that. I'm the happiest girl you've met today. Trust me.”
