NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks continued their championship celebration Wednesday evening when players Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart stepped onto the field at Yankee Stadium to throw out ceremonial first pitches ahead of the Yankees’ game against the Chicago White Sox.
As the two players walked out to a video montage of highlights from their title run, the crowd greeted them with a standing ovation and thunderous cheering.
Dressed in Yankees pinstripes and standing in front of the mound, Brunson delivered his pitch to backup catcher J.C. Escarra, while Hart threw to utilityman Max Schuemann.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone had plenty of praise for the Knicks and their fanbase. “Oh, I think it’s been awesome,” Boone said. “What a fun team to get behind and just the story of that team and how it’s kind of come together over the last couple of years and just a lot of grit, a lot of mental fortitude and to see the fanbase and then some galvanized around that club has been a lot of fun to witness.”
The Yankee Stadium appearance came after the Knicks spent Monday making the rounds on national television, with appearances on NBC’s “The Today Show” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.” Brunson, Hart, and starters Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby also stopped by ABC’s “Good Morning America” that same day.
Wednesday’s ceremony took place just one night before the Knicks are set to be honored with a massive ticker-tape parade through lower Manhattan. Mayor Zohran Mamdani predicted Thursday’s event could turn out to be “the largest parade in New York City history.”
The parade will mark a first for the franchise, which previously won NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. Following those earlier titles, then-Mayor John Lindsay held celebrations for the team at the mayoral mansion and City Hall.
For Brunson, Wednesday’s first pitch was actually his second since joining the Knicks. He previously threw one out before a Mets-Yankees game in July 2024, shortly after agreeing to a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension to remain with the team.
Brunson was a dominant force throughout the NBA Finals, averaging 32.6 points per game as New York defeated the San Antonio Spurs in five games to claim the title. He earned Finals MVP honors and scored 45 points in the clinching Game 5, a 94-90 Knicks victory.
Hart also has a special connection to Yankee Stadium — he is a great-nephew of former Yankees catcher Elston Howard, whose No. 32 jersey has been retired by the team. Howard is additionally memorialized with a plaque in Monument Park.
The Knicks wrapped up the postseason with a 16-3 record, an .842 winning percentage that tied the 2024 Boston Celtics for second-best since the NBA moved to best-of-seven series in all playoff rounds starting in 2003. Only the 2017 Golden State Warriors, who went 16-1, had a better mark.
New York also rattled off 13 consecutive postseason wins — second only to Golden State’s 15-game winning streak in 2017 — and set records with nine straight road victories and a plus-283 point differential against playoff opponents.
Boone reflected on what the Knicks’ run means in a broader context. “It’s just been a captivating run that they’ve been on and with a group that’s now been together for a couple of years and then on top of the 53 years since a championship, it’s been a great story and a fan base that has come to know several of these guys as they’ve kind of climbed that ladder to ultimately winning a championship,” he said. “So I think it’ll be one of the historic teams that we talk about when it comes to the NBA.”
