Hong Kong Fans Celebrate Knicks' First NBA Win Since 1973

At 8:30 on a Sunday morning in Hong Kong, hundreds of basketball fans packed a Kowloon Bay cinema to witness history: the New York Knicks clinching their first NBA championship in 53 years.

The NBA-organized watch party brought together Knicks and San Antonio Spurs supporters who arrived knowing they might see one of the sport's longest title droughts finally end. Among them was seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry, nicknamed "Big Shot Rob" for his clutch playoff performances, who spent the morning greeting fans and handing out prizes including courtside tickets to October's NBA China Games in Macau.

The game lived up to its billing. Fans jumped to their feet repeatedly as the lead changed hands, with the outcome uncertain until the final 20 seconds of the fourth quarter.

Mikal Bridges made one of two free throws to put the Knicks ahead by three points with 8.8 seconds remaining. When the Spurs missed their chance to tie and OG Anunoby sealed the 94-90 victory from the free-throw line, cheers erupted throughout the cinema.

Carl Ho, a Knicks supporter at the event, said he never lost faith despite difficult moments during the playoffs. "After the comeback in the last game, I still believed they could win," he said, adding that he planned to celebrate with a good meal.

The Ripple Effect

The watch party represents more than just basketball fans celebrating their team. It marks a significant thaw in the NBA's relationship with China after years of uncertainty.

In 2019, a social media post by then-Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey triggered a political backlash that suspended broadcasts and kept NBA games out of the region for six years. The league returned to Macau last year with pre-season games between the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns.

Now the NBA is staging another pre-season series in Macau this October featuring the Dallas Mavericks and Houston Rockets. The Chinese market remains one of the NBA's most important outside North America, with hundreds of millions of people in the country actively playing or following basketball.

For the Knicks, who play at Madison Square Garden (the "Mecca of Basketball"), the championship ends decades of frustration for one of the sport's most recognizable franchises. While New York fans flooded streets and bars across the city, supporters in Hong Kong marked the moment from the other side of the world, proving that basketball's ability to unite people crosses every border.