Russell Wilson, new Giants QB, loves Knicks' chances to win NBA title
Giants quarterback Russell Wilson in the Yankees dugout before a Subway Series game against the Mets on Sunday. Credit: Noah K. Murray
New Giants quarterback Russell Wilson knows what it takes to win a championship and knows what it takes to win one in New York.
Or at least near New York.
Wilson won Super Bowl XLVIII with Seattle at MetLife Stadium after the 2013 season.
These days, Wilson is getting ready for his first season with the Giants and immersing himself in the New York sports culture. Wilson attended Friday night’s Knicks series-clinching victory over the Celtics at Madison Square Garden and then partied with the players.
On Sunday night, Wilson was in a pinstripe Yankees jersey at the Subway Series finale at Yankee Stadium with his wife, the singer Ciara, and their children. Wilson chatted with Aaron Judge in front of the home dugout during batting practice.
Wilson, who was very briefly a Yankees minor-leaguer, said his focus will turn back to basketball when the Knicks open the Eastern Conference finals against Indiana at home on Wednesday night.
Can the Knicks go all the way to the NBA title? Wilson thinks they can.
“The guys have great grit,” Wilson told Newsday. “They're playing hard. They're competitive. I believe they’ve got a chance to take it all the way and win it all.”
The Knicks last won the NBA title in 1973, but they do have players such as Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges who won the NCAA Tournament with Villanova.
“They’ve got guys that have been on championship teams before in college,” he said. “That mentality. obviously Jalen Brunson is such a warrior. [Karl-Anthony Towns] is a great shooter, and can make plays. I just think that Josh Hart is truly the heart of the team. Just how hard he plays. So it's a great team.”
Towns attended Sunday's game and received a huge ovation when shown on the centerfield scoreboard.
Wilson’s Knicks and Yankees ties run deep. The 36-year-old, a former second baseman in the Colorado Rockies system (2010-11), got one at-bat with the Yankees in major-league spring training in 2018.
Pinch hitting for Judge, Wilson struck out on five pitches against Max Fried, then of Atlanta. Fried started for the Yankees on Sunday night.
“I've always been a Yankees fan my whole life,” Wilson said. “I loved Derek Jeter and watching the guys and the championships and all that. But I also started watching the Knicks when I was young, too. Back in the day, I used to watch Patrick Ewing and different guys like that. And, obviously, Carmelo Anthony, who I know and respect. He was such a great player.”
Game 6 of the Knicks-Celtics series occurred on Friday at roughly the same time as the opener of the Subway Series. The Yankee Stadium crowd, Mets and Yankees fans alike, found something they could agree on when the Knicks’ big early lead in Game 6 was shown on the centerfield scoreboard. The crowd put aside their differences and roared for the Knicks.
The excitement about the Knicks’ run has been a constant buzz in the Bronx this weekend. Yankees such as Judge and Anthony Volpe are big Knicks fans, as is Mets star Francisco Lindor.
Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen can often be found courtside at Knicks games when they are not at Citi Field. The Cohens could attend Wednesday’s game at the Garden since there is no conflict with the Mets playing the Red Sox in Boston.
Game 2 on Friday night should present more of a “where do we go” challenge: The Mets are hosting the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in an NLCS rematch.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone, a hoops junkie, can also sometimes be found at Knicks games in the offseason. Boone said he was able to keep one eye on the NBA playoffs this weekend while managing his first-place team against the first-place Mets.
“With all that’s happening with the excitement in the city right now with sports, with the Knicks playing and two really good teams going at it [in the Subway Series], it’s an exciting time,” Boone said.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
