The New York Knickerbockers were not the only titleholders at this week’s ticker-tape parade!
This article below appeared in the New York Daily News……
By Cayla Bamberger | cbamberger@nydailynews.com | New York Daily News
PUBLISHED: June 19, 2026 at 5:03 PM EDT
On Thursday, the Seward Park Campus varsity boys basketball team, the 2025-26 Public Schools Athletic League champions, had the chance of a lifetime to take part in the parade on Lower Manhattan’s Canyon of Heroes with the Knicks — less than a week after the pro team won its first NBA title in 53 years.
For the Seward Park Bears, the lessons learned from the Knicks’ historic playoff run — both on and off the court — will stick with them for the rest of their lives, players told the Daily News near the end of the parade route at the New York City Public Schools headquarters.
“One thing I do wish (to learn) from the Knicks is their humility as a team and their honesty,” said Brooklyn “BK” Hollins.
“They was up 2-0 on the road against this very great Spurs team, but they was able to stay consistent, 0-0,” Hollins added, borrowing a common refrain from the Knicks about taking the series one game at a time. “We don’t have the advantage. We have to play through everything. We have to stay hungry. And I would love to take that to college with me.”
Fans cheer during the New York Knicks championship ticker-tape parade and victory rally celebrating winning the 2026 NBA Finals on Thursday. (Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images)
The Lower East Side squad secured the PSAL Division 2A title in March, with a 60-49 victory over Townsend Harris High School in the city finals. Their championship run looked a lot like the Knicks’ dominant postseason, relying on small guards like Jalen Brunson and late-game tears. The Knicks pulled off the largest comeback in NBA Finals history in Game 4, closing a 29-point deficit to defeat the San Antonio Spurs.
“I think Seward plays like the Knicks,” said Lucas Bernstein, another Bears player, who compared his game and ability to “make the difference” to that of Josh Hart. “Knicks are a fourth-quarter team. They were down 70% of the whole Finals. And we tend to come back in the fourth, come alive in the fourth.”
The Seward seniors landed an eleventh-hour invite to the parade alongside seven other teams on Wednesday. Bernstein thought it was a prank, before it dawned on him that he was set to be part of New York City history. Hollins, scared of sleeping through his alarm, pulled an all-nighter.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, the players joined an estimated 2 million parade-goers who descended on Lower Manhattan, overflowing with pride in the Knicks and collective joy in New York. Fans were clad in blue and orange, while Seward wore their signature blue, gray and white.
Thousands of fans cheer during the New York Knicks championship ticker-tape parade and victory rally celebrating winning the 2026 NBA Finals on Thursday. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Along the parade route, the student athletes rode a double-decker bus, rejoiced with the revelers, signed jerseys and hats, and met a special guest: the legendary Hall of Famer, Knicks No. 33 Patrick Ewing. The team gifted a Seward Park T-shirt to Knicks owner James Dolan.
“Everybody doesn’t get this experience to be able to be in a parade with winners,” said Delano “Bam” McCollum, the team captain and a point guard known for his defense, who compared his game to Jose Alvarado’s. “You know, when you’re a winner, it feels great.”
Both McCollum and his teammate Roy Duran are off to play college ball in the State University of New York system next year — McCollum at Mohawk Valley Community College, and Duran at Plattsburgh State.
“I’m going there just to stay working hard,” Duran said, “make sure I keep working, be able to play at the next level, and keep moving up the steps.”