On Sunday, the New York Knicks just ended a 53-year drought by claiming the 2026 NBA Championship. Jose Alvarado, born in Brooklyn and of Puerto Rican heritage, helped them do that. The National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York gave Alvarado a hero’s welcome.
At the parade, he joined New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on a float in the parade down 5th Avenue. This was the 69th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Jose Alvarado
Alvarado was a mid-season trade from the New Orleans Pelicans, but he has become a fan favorite. His switch to the Knicks brought him home to the town where he was born and raised, and the Knicks fans as well as the Puerto Rican Day revelers welcomed him as a hometown hero. In fact, he is the only native New Yorker on the team. He grew up in the projects in Williamsburg, where locals look up to him as an example of the capacity of people from their neighborhood.
The Knicks Nation Facebook group wrote “Jose Alvarado, your life is a movie.”
Alvarado started playing basketball at age 9 and gained several city-wide titles in high school. ESPN ranked him as the #9 player in the state.
He went on to a stellar career as a college player at Georgia Tech, where he was named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in literature, media and communications in 2021 and joined the New Orleans Pelicans in the same year.
Photo courtesy of Bill de Blasio
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