A sometimes-raucous crowd estimated at more than 1 million people lined the streets of Manhattan on Thursday for an event 53 years in the making: a championship parade honoring the New York Knicks.

Past franchise legends such as Patrick Ewing rode in convertibles through the Canyon of Heroes and waved to the adoring crowd, an appetizer before fans saw captain and NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson emerge with the team, hopping off his ride to walk the parade route with his wife and daughter, cradling the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.

Most of the Knicks walked part of the route to City Hall, which was adorned with banners bearing the players’ names and numbers. They greeted fans before being presented with the key to the city by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and serenaded by Alicia Keys, who performed “Empire State of Mind.” Karl-Anthony Towns grabbed a mic to sing the other anthem of the city, “New York, New York.”

The Knicks’ celebrity fans, including Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, Ben Stiller, Mariska Hargitay and Timothee Chalamet, also were there, some taking part in the official festivities. Martha Stewart took a photo with Brunson.

Mamdani brought New Yorkers together amid pride over the team’s first NBA title since 1973.

“For 53 long years we have watched, and we have waited. We have watched from nosebleeds and through gritted teeth on televisions in the windows of electronic stores, and from projectors balanced on fire escapes,” the mayor said.

“We have watched alone in our apartments with our heads in our hands, shoulder to shoulder at bars where the signal flickers, alongside friends and family who we wish more than anything could be here today, sharing this moment.”

And he relayed the point that the Knicks were New York tough when they came back from a 29-point deficit in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to defeat the San Antonio Spurs and close the series on their opponent’s home court. In the third quarter of the deciding game, analytics gave the Spurs a 99.6% chance of winning.

“What is New York if not 99.6% of the world stacked against you? And who are New Yorkers if not people who hear those odds and smile, who look at a point-four chance of success, and ask, ‘Why are you giving me a head start? This is our city, this is our team.’ For 53 years we watched, for 53 years we waited. Now we’ve won.”

Leon Rose, the team president for the past six years, congratulated coach Mike Brown for finally bringing the Larry O’Brien trophy to New York.

“Mike Brown and our entire coaching staff, you came in this season with enormous expectations and completely exceeded them, and you did it with so much class that resonated with New Yorkers,” he said.

Brown did not take the credit all by himself.

“I’m so proud of our guys from the top to the bottom. There was a lot of hard work that we put in, starting with the offseason, going into the season. A lot of stuff that you guys don’t see behind the scenes. Guys busting their behinds, not just our players, our medical staff, you know, keeping those guys healthy for sure.”

On the way to the championship, the Knicks had to address the doubters.

That included Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon, formerly a Spurs assistant coach, who said in a 2023 interview that when “your best player is small,” it did not bode well for a title. With the 6-foot-2 leader in Brunson closing in on a title, Hammon didn’t walk back her statement when given the chance.

Brunson, with his championship series MVP trophy nearby, savored the moment.

“There’s a lot of people who have a lot of negative stuff to say,” Brunson said. “There’s a lot of people who have their own opinions. But when you prove them wrong, you don’t have to say s–t to them. They don’t deserve it.”

–Field Level Media

Sam Stevens shot 2-under-par 68 to hold the first-round lead among golfers who played in the morning wave at the U.S. Open Thursday in Southampton, N.Y.

Two-time reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy was in first place for a portion of the afternoon before bogeys on his final two holes at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where the competition was off schedule following a morning suspension of play.

The six-time major champ from Northern Ireland settled for a 1-under 69.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler sat at 2 over through 17 holes, while more than 50 golfers had yet to begin the round by the time McIlroy finished.

Stevens began the round with a double bogey on the 10th hole but recovered and had four birdies in a seven-hole stretch bridging the back and front nines.

McIlroy began on the back nine and then got rolling on the front, boosted by an eagle on the par-5 fifth hole. He fell back with bogeys on Nos. 8 and 9, the latter coming off after a greenside chip left a par putt that he was unable to convert.

McIlroy won the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md.

Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, who was in McIlroy’s playing group, also shot 69.

Sam Burns, who contended in recent weeks on the PGA Tour, posted birdies on two of the first four holes but ended up at 1-over 71 for the day.

Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell birdied the first two holes but didn’t maintain that, finishing at 76.

Play was suspended early Thursday because of fog and wind, with only 18 golfers having begun their rounds. At that point, there had been seven bogeys and no birdies recorded.

With adjustments, some golfers in the afternoon wave were slated to tee off as late as 4:42 p.m., so that will make finishing the first round unlikely by the end of the day.

–Field Level Media

The series finale between the San Francisco Giants and host Atlanta Braves was called off nearly five hours before first pitch due to inclement weather in the forecast Thursday.

The teams were not due to meet in Atlanta again this season, with the game was rescheduled for Monday, Aug. 31 which was a mutual off day.

The Giants will add the stop in Atlanta at the front of a six-game East Coast road trip to play the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Mets. Atlanta adds the game at the end of a scheduled six-game homestand before it begins a trip Sept. 1.

The Giants took the first two games of the series 7-2 and 7-5 from the Braves, who have fallen from their perch after owning the best record in baseball to start the week.

The Giants planned to start right-hander Landen Roupp (5-7, 4.24 ERA) on Thursday opposite Atlanta lefty Martin Perez (5-3, 2.90). Both pitchers will have their start moved back a day, with Roupp to face the Miami Marlins and Perez to duel Jacob Misiorowski and the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.

–Field Level Media