Knicks fans on Long Island reflect on the team's Finals performance: 'I fell in love all over again'

Long Island Knicks fans watching the team's exhilarating run to a possible NBA championship say they're getting even more out of their devotion than the elation they felt after Wednesday night's historic comeback at Madison Square Garden.

Some watched the Knicks' slow, methodical comeback late in the 4th quarter, ending with an improbable 1-point victory over the San Antonio Spurs, and thought of the two times the team was crowned the NBA's best, 1970 and 1973. They thought of the team's stars of the era — Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley — as well as their loved ones who introduced them to the team and have since passed. And in the Knicks ability to claw their way from depths to peaks, they learned lessons about more than basketball.

So, what does this generational performance by the Knicks mean to fans? These six Long Islanders have some answers.

Yolanda Devane

Yolanda Devane’s introduction to the Knicks was Game 3 of the 1999 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden, their only victory in that series against the San Antonio Spurs. Devane was not a fan, but her date was a "die hard." Soon, the spectacle of the Garden and the hometown Knicks was too much to resist.

"I think that’s when I fell in love with them, and then after that, over the years, they would win, they would lose, and it would literally rip your heart out," Devane, 63, of West Hempstead, said. "But to see them come back, have a team that plays so well together and really truly has each other's back, it’s amazing, it’s just wonderful. I fell in love all over again."

I fell in love all over again.

—Yolanda Devane

During the playoffs, Devane tried to watch games with her daughter and granddaughter who live in Suffolk County. When they couldn’t tune in together, they bonded over the phone.

"She started rooting for them and it was something that we shared," Devane said of her 8-year-old granddaughter. "She would call me in the middle of halftime and say 'Grandma, Grandma, we’re not winning,’ I said ‘listen, just be patient. Sometimes you just have to believe in your team. Don’t give up.’ And that’s exactly what the Knicks did [Wednesday] night. They did not give up, and that’s what, I think, ultimately made them win."

Jalen Howard

When Jalen Howard started following basketball as a fourth grader at Twin Pines Elementary School in Brentwood, he rooted for Golden State and soon-to-be-sharp-shooting superstar Stephen Curry.

Then, his father introduced him to a team more suitable for a Long Islander.

"But my dad took me to my first Knicks game at the end of the season and I’ve been hooked ever since," said Howard, 25, of Brentwood.

He is still close with his boyhood friends, the same ones he had in grade school, high school, college and into young adulthood — their shared Knick fandom part of an unbreakable bond.

Life can sometimes get in the way, Howard said, but the Knicks' hot streak has made getting together a higher priority.

I think everyone in New York wants to go to that parade.

—Jalen Howard

"Me and my friends actually talked about it last game [Game 3]," Howard said. "We were outside, after the game was over and they lost, it was so sad, but we were telling each other ‘guys, it’s been great out here with you, and I’m glad that we’ve been friends for this long. It’s such a great experience to finally see the Knicks get into the finals and that we’re all still here together.’ "

If the Knicks take home the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy, Howard said he’s going to have to take a day off work. He and his friends will take their celebration to Manhattan.

"We all said we were going to the city to go see the parade," he said. "I think everyone in New York wants to go to that parade."

Lou LaForgia

Lou LaForgia said loyal Knicks fans and New Yorkers of all stripes are already coming together to root for the championship-deprived franchise.

LaForgia’s support for the Knicks dates back to that first championship season that ended with the 1970 NBA title, and he’s eager to witness a third. A winning team has as a way of uniting people who otherwise would have little reason to come together, said LaForgia, 75.

"Democrats, Republicans, it doesn’t matter," said LaForgia, of Huntington. "Everyone’s pulling for the Knicks. That’s what’s great about New York right now."

Democrats, Republicans, it doesn’t matter ... Everyone’s pulling for the Knicks.

—Lou LaForgia

Ever seeing past divisions, LaForgia believes this year's matchup in the NBA Finals — the young, aggressive Spurs against the experienced, unified Knicks — is great for the future of the league.

"It’s a battle between the present, which is the Knicks, and the future, which is the Spurs," LaForgia said. "It couldn’t be any better."

Asya Amaya

The NBA’s future could be Asya Amaya’s 9-year-old son, whom she has been teaching to dribble and shoot since the Knicks began their Finals-worthy season.

"He’s not playing any basketball [on a team] yet, but I’m trying to introduce him to the game the same way my grandma and my dad introduced us to the game," said Amaya, 38, of West Hempstead.

She and her husband, their son, their 3-year-old daughter and her parents have watched each game of the 2026 Finals together at home, which she said "means everything" to the family. Her grandmother, Carrie Sampson, she added, "unfortunately is watching from above." Sampson not only taught her how to play the game, but also "some wisdom in true Granny fashion."

I’m really proud to be in this moment and have my family in this moment ...

—Asya Amaya

"I think my Granny just looks at it as a team coming together with one goal in common, that is to win a championship," Amaya said. "It’s very much applicable to life, rallying around together as a team, your community coming together."

She’s felt this sense of community walking her son to school sporting team attire, which elicits chants of "let’s go New York" and knowing looks from passersby.

"When we can be divided about so much, to be united about something like sports and a New York team doing well in the playoffs, let alone the NBA Finals, it’s truly amazing," Amaya said. "I’m really proud to be in this moment and have my family in this moment as well, and hopefully we’ll have many more moments like this."

Sincere Miles

Sincere Miles never believed he’d see a moment like this, when the Knicks have a real shot at becoming champions. His father, Daniel Miles, and his uncle, Arthur Bings, both of whom died in recent years, "definitely believed" he said. But he feels they are tuning into the games alongside him "still to this day."

"They’re still here with me," Miles, 27, of Brentwood, said. "They’re loving it right now, they’re going crazy right now. We’d be at the bar right now with them or probably somewhere else in New York watching the game."

Nobody believed in the Knicks, now they’re all the way here.

—Sincere Miles

Instead of his father and uncle, Miles has been watching Knicks games with friends. Growing up, he said he viewed the Knicks as "an inspiration," and still believes watching them inspires New Yorkers to "keep going" toward that for which they strive.

"If they win the chips this year, we’re not going to stop," Miles said. "The whole town’s getting teared up, but the reason why is the Knicks. Nobody believed in the Knicks, now they’re all the way here."

Neal Bograd

 Some Long Islanders, including Neal Bograd, lost their passion for tuning into every single Knicks game. Guard Dick Barnett, who died last year, and forward Dave DeBusschere, who died in 2003, were part of the starting lineups that led the team to victory in 1970 and 1973 and "were our heroes," he said.

It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve watched basketball and had any interest, really.

—Neal Bograd

"It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve watched basketball and had any interest, really," Bograd, 69, of Huntington, said. "It’s kind of fun."

But the team’s current roster, which he said has a similar dynamic to the franchise’s last champions, rekindled his interest.

"They play a nice ball," Bograd said. "They pass. They don’t just shoot every shot from the corners, and I think they have a nice camaraderie, something similar to the '69 [and] '73 Knicks, which they were famous for."