{"id":417378,"date":"2026-06-18T07:01:30","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/?p=417378"},"modified":"2026-06-18T07:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T07:01:30","slug":"new-champs-jalen-brunson-and-josh-hart-throw-out-first-pitches-at-yankee-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/2026\/06\/18\/new-champs-jalen-brunson-and-josh-hart-throw-out-first-pitches-at-yankee-stadium\/","title":{"rendered":"New champs Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart throw out first pitches at Yankee Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014<\/strong> The New York Knicks\u2019 victory tour following their first NBA championship since 1973 made another stop Wednesday night when Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart threw out ceremonial first pitches at Yankee Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brunson and Hart were met with a standing ovation and loud cheers from fans as they took the field to a montage of highlights from the title run before the Yankees played the Chicago White Sox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing in front of the mound and wearing Yankees pinstripes, Brunson made his toss to backup catcher J.C. Escarra while Hart threw to utilityman Max Schuemann.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, I think\u2019s it been awesome,\u201d Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. \u201cWhat a fun team to get behind and just the story of that team and how it\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brunson and Hart were honored after the Knicks made appearances on NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Today Show\u201d and \u201cLate Night with Jimmy Fallon\u201d on Monday. Brunson and Hart along with starters Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby also appeared on ABC\u2019s \u201cGood Morning America\u201d on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceremony occurred a day before the Knicks will be honored with a massive\u00a0ticker-tape parade\u00a0in lower Manhattan. Mayor Zohran Mamdani predicted Thursday\u2019s celebration could be \u201cthe largest parade in New York City history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parade will also be the first for the Knicks, who won their first two NBA championships in 1970 and 1973. After those titles, then-Mayor John Lindsay celebrated the team at the mayoral mansion and City Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brunson threw out a first pitch for the second time since joining the Knicks. He also did it before a Mets-Yankees game in July 2024 shortly after signing a four-year, $156.5 million contract to stay with the Knicks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brunson averaged 32.6 points in New York\u2019s five-game victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and won MVP honors. He led the Knicks to a 94-90 victory in the clinching Game 5 by scoring 45 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hart is a great-nephew of former Yankees catcher Elston Howard, whose No. 32 jersey is retired by the team. Howard is also honored with a plaque in Monument Park.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Knicks finished 16-3 in the postseason, an .842 winning percentage that matched the 2024 Boston Celtics for second-best since the format changed to best-of-seven series in all NBA playoff rounds beginning in 2003. The 2017 Golden State Warriors went 16-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New York won 13 consecutive postseason games, second to Golden State\u2019s 15 in a row in 2017, and set records by winning nine straight road games and outscoring their postseason opponents by 283 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brunson and the Knicks also pulled off several big comebacks on the way to their title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just been a captivating run that they\u2019ve been on and with a group that\u2019s now been together for a couple of years and then on top of the 53 years since a championship, it\u2019s been a great story and a fan base that has come to know several of these guys as they\u2019ve kind of climbed that ladder to ultimately winning a championship,\u201d Boone said. \u201cSo I think it\u2019ll be one of the historic teams that we talk about when it comes to the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 The New York Knicks\u2019 victory tour following their first NBA championship since 1973 made another stop Wednesday night when Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart threw out ceremonial first pitches at Yankee Stadium. Brunson and Hart were met with a standing ovation and loud cheers from fans as they took the field to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-417378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417378"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417379,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417378\/revisions\/417379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}