As the New York Knicks’ championship parade got underway on Thursday morning, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave a speech showing off his knowledge of the team’s history in the years that have followed after their last championship in 1973. And he even managed to get a slight dig in at Michael Jordan when referencing the Knicks’ 1993 playoff run.
wow, Mamdani clearly knows ball pic.twitter.com/Weookrlk8E
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 18, 2026
Of course, the play the Zohran Mamdani was referring to is the now infamous John Starks baseline dunk in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. While the mayor singled out Michael Jordan during the Knicks’ championship parade as being on the receiving end of that dunk, it’s still a debate between NBA fans as if it really counts for Jordan being dunked on.
Starks did throw down a poster dunk on Horace Grant, with Jordan coming over as the help defense. But Jordan was screened out by Grant on the play and wasn’t actually next to Starks.
The Knicks would take a 2-0 lead in the series after that game, but would ultimately lose to the Chicago Bulls who would then go on to win their third consecutive championship. The Bulls were a constant thorn in the side of the 90’s Knicks, preventing them from getting to the NBA Finals when they had a contending roster.
But the championship drought is now over. Among the other 90’s Knicks’ moments that Mamdani mentioned was Patrick Ewing’s dunk in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers. The Knicks would reach the Finals that year, but were defeated by the Houston Rockets.
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