New York Visitors Catch Knicks Championship Fever

Last Wednesday night, St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and his wife walked into the Cardinals' midtown Manhattan hotel each wearing a black shirt, black pants and a black hat.

As New York Knicks fan Adam Sandler might have sang in one of his most iconic Saturday Night Live skits: MISSSSTAAAAAAAAKE!!!!

"There was a little watch party in the courtyard of the hotel," Marmol said Thursday morning, hours after the Knicks moved to the edge of their long-awaited title with their stunning 29-point comeback win over the San Antonio Spurs - who are, of course, adorned almost entirely in black.

"We had a couple comments thrown our way," Marmol said with a grin. "(He said) ‘We're from Florida. We're fine.'"

Cardinals, Braves Feel Knicks NBA Championship Fever

The Cardinals, Mets and Atlanta Braves got the unique experience last week of being athletes competing in New York as the area's most beloved team inched closer to and finally won its first championship since 1973.

"I love it - I love coming here," Marmol said. "It's one of my favorite cities to come to. I love the energy and the vibes of this place. People say New Yorkers are (jerks). I actually like them a lot. Get along with them. The energy with the Knicks and what's going on, it's been cool and it's cool to be in the city during this time."

On Sunday morning, fewer than 12 hours after the Knicks clinched the NBA title by edging the Spurs 94-90 in Game 5, a Braves staffer said he stepped out of his hotel following the game just to take in the scene, which he described as people as far as the eye could see.

"Makes what the Hawks did look pretty good," he said, referring to Atlanta's NBA team earning consecutive one-point victories over the Knicks in Games 2 and 3 of a first-round series before the Knicks won 13 straight and 15 of their final 16 games.

He also heard first-hand that New Yorkers do not forgive or forget their enemies, which is something Victor Wembanyama should keep in mind for, oh, the rest of his career.

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"The biggest chant I heard was ‘(Screw) Trae Young,'" the staffer said with a laugh, referring to the former Hawks guard who starred for the club and embraced the villain role in 2021, when the Knicks' first trip to the playoffs in eight seasons ended with a five-game first-round loss to Atlanta.

Braves manager Walt Weiss grew up in Suffern, N.Y., located fewer than 40 miles north of Madison Square Garden - and he was nine years old in 1973, so unlike any of the players or other managers at Citi Field last week, he has a unique understanding of just how long a wait 53 years really is.

"New York teams do well, it's a big deal, and it was very evident the other night - it's just different," Weiss said Friday afternoon. "This is the Mecca for sports and I experienced that growing up.

"They've been starved for the Knicks to be good here for a long time and now that they are - you talk about a buzz, it's beyond a buzz."

On Sunday morning, Weiss acknowledged with a grin he did not head into the streets the night before.

"You could feel it in the city," Weiss said. "I didn't get involved in the partying last night. But I could hear it from my hotel room."

Knicks NBA Championship Reminds Every New York Team Of The Ultimate Goal

Despite a 1:40 PM start Sunday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said he stayed up for the entire Knicks-Spurs finale (unlike Aaron Boone, who unforgivably fell asleep).

Aaron Boone said he was watching the Knicks game but "I fell asleep with six minutes to go. Unbelievable." He caught up on SportsCenter this morning.

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) June 14, 2026

"I was locked in, watching it," Mendoza said. "Man, it's just the way they came back, never gave up. You could really tell they play as a team."

No team will unite the region like the Knicks, who have a nearly unanimous grip on basketball fans (there are a handful of Nets fans out there, shoutout to those hardy souls enduring life these days as the loneliest contrarians on the planet).

Mets shortstop Bo Bichette, who signed with New York in January after spending the first six-plus seasons of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays, said the region's obsession with the Knicks matches that of hockey-mad Toronto's devotion to the Maple Leafs.

"I guess I knew how important baseball was in New York, but probably not as much I know now," Bichette said last Tuesday.

But the Knicks becoming New York's first champion within the four major pro sports league since the 2011 Giants served as a reminder there's no place to win it all quite like the Big Apple.

On Sunday morning, Mendoza and Mets reliever Luke Weaver noted they were both almost part of a similar grip on the area in October 2024. Mendoza's first Mets team fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series while Weaver was a reliever with the Yankees, who made the World Series.

"Getting to see them seal the deal was kind of bittersweet, because it was a feeling that I wish I could have enjoyed, but it was cool to see it for the city," Weaver said. "I got pretty much all the feels except getting to have the cool parade and all the stuff that comes with it. I would say I missed the one percent at the end."

And for the other eight teams in town - from the perennially contending Yankees, the forever also-ran Jets, the perpetually in-between Mets and everyone else - it's all about figuring out a way to be the centerpiece of the next area-wide celebration instead of the observers.

"You watch what the Knicks were able to do (from) my seat - (it's) what we're trying to do here, day in and day out," Mendoza said. "Everyday you show up with that goal in mind."

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This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 9:06 PM.