{"id":765389,"date":"2026-06-19T21:42:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/765389\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T21:42:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:42:19","slug":"nyc-high-school-champs-in-knicks-ticker-tape-parade-see-themselves-in-tenacious-nba-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/765389\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC high school champs in Knicks ticker-tape parade see themselves in tenacious NBA team"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Knickerbockers were not the only titleholders at this week\u2019s ticker-tape parade.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Canyon of Heroes<\/a> with the Knicks \u2014 less than a week after the pro team won its first NBA title in 53 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the Seward Park Bears, the lessons learned from the Knicks\u2019 historic playoff run \u2014 both on and off the court \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I do wish (to learn) from the Knicks is their humility as a team and their honesty,\u201d said Brooklyn \u201cBK\u201d Hollins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey was up 2-0 on the road against this very great Spurs team, but they was able to stay consistent, 0-0,\u201d Hollins added, borrowing a common refrain from the Knicks<\/a>\u00a0about taking the series one game at a time. \u201cWe don\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FansFans 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)<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. Their championship run looked a lot like the Knicks\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Seward plays like the Knicks,\u201d said Lucas Bernstein, another Bears player, who compared his game and ability to \u201cmake the difference\u201d to that of Josh Hart. \u201cKnicks are a fourth-quarter team. They were down 70% of the whole Finals<\/a>. And we tend to come back in the fourth, come alive in the fourth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In the early hours of Thursday morning, the players joined an estimated 2 million parade-goers<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\"ThousandsThousands 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)<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody doesn\u2019t get this experience to be able to be in a parade with winners,\u201d said Delano \u201cBam\u201d McCollum, the team captain and a point guard known for his defense, who compared his game to Jose Alvarado\u2019s. \u201cYou know, when you\u2019re a winner, it feels great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both McCollum and his teammate Roy Duran are off to play college ball in the State University of New York system next year \u2014 McCollum at Mohawk Valley Community College, and Duran at Plattsburgh State.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going there just to stay working hard,\u201d Duran said, \u201cmake sure I keep working, be able to play at the next level, and keep moving up the steps.\u201d<\/p>\n

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