Knicks Face Backlash For 9/11 References During Championship Parade

The New York Knicks held their NBA Finals parade in downtown Manhattan on Thursday morning, with millions in attendance.

Speeches were given at City Hall, with everyone from Knicks owner James Dolan to Finals MVP Jalen Brunson to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani getting behind the microphone on Thursday.

But one speech in particular is getting ripped apart, and it came from New York City Comptroller Mark Levine.

Levine made references to 9/11 during his speech.

"We do not back down, no matter how far behind we are," Levine said. "We were down on 9/11, and we came back. We were down in (Hurricane) Sandy, and we came back. We were down during COVID, and we came back. We were down against the Cavs, against the Spurs … and we came back. We are New York. We don't stop fighting. You should be afraid of us. We are the champs because of the New York Knicks."

Tracy Morgan made a similar reference, too.

"I've heard the comparison of the comeback to 9/11 and COVID-19 from a few people today. Tracy Morgan also brought it up at the top of the ESPN broadcast," Devon Henderson of The Athletic shared.

WFAN's Gregg Giannotti is fed up with the 9/11 references

The popular New York City radio host is not happy with them.

"For the respect of the people that lost their lives in 9/11 and the families, can we stop comparing a sports team coming back from 29 points to the city recovering from 9/11?" Gio asked. "Like, I love sports. If I didn't have sports, I wouldn't have this job, I wouldn't have my life. But I can separate those two things.

"‘Just like we came back from 9/11, the Knicks came back in this game.' Please. Can we stop short of that? I mean, it's- we got the 25th remembrance this year of 9/11. And it just made my skin crawl."

He's not wrong.

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