#Long-suffering Knicks fans ride superstitions into NBA playoffs
“#Long-suffering Knicks fans ride superstitions into NBA playoffs”
On Sunday, 13-year-old Cassidy Berger will head to Madison Square Garden for Day 2 of the NBA playoffs wearing his Immanuel Quickley jersey — and he has no plans to take it off for a while.
“I will wear it the rest of the playoff run,” Cassidy told The Post of the shirt, which his father, Ryan, bought when the Knicks played the Atlanta Hawks — the same team they are up against on Sunday. “I got it during the game when they beat the Hawks and started a seven-game winning streak.”
It’s not his only superstition.
His family’s Short Hills, NJ, basement is tricked out with five side-by-side TV screens for viewing sports — but he and his sisters can only watching the Knicks on the largest, which measures 85 inches. “If we are watching from home, we have to have them on the big screen. No matter what,” Cassidy said. “I do it for good luck so they win. They are so good this year, and fun to watch.”
The Knicks are making their first playoff appearance since 2013, giving the long-suffering fanbase a sense of something unfamiliar: hope. It’s enough to make many of them turn to rituals, superstitions and good-luck charms to keep the Knickerbocker mojo flowing.
Jamil Thomas is doing his part to prop up the team’s fortune by never repeating what he wears to games — which isn’t easy since the season ticket holder hits about 50 a year, both at MSG and on the road.
“Even though the Knicks sucked for years, I thought if I wore the same thing it would be bad luck,” Thomas, 36, told The Post.
The Bronx native has a stockpile of vintage Knicks gear, some of which he was passed down from his father, who finally gave up on the franchise when Charles Oakley was banned from MSG in 2017 following an altercation with team owner Jim Dolan. Each week, Thomas goes to his storage unit, which houses more than 50 different pairs of Patrick Ewing Adidas, and plans his looks.
“It can get a little pricey, but you have to up the ante,” said Thomas, who works for a non-profit.
His look for Sunday? “It’s going to be a straight Ewing jersey and a hat. I hope it brings us luck.”
Known superfan Anthony Donohue, 37, hasn’t wavered from his routine, either: “I go two hours early before every game.”
He used to attend with his sister Gianna Gregoire, but in August she passed away from glioblastoma. In her honor, the Bronx native and season ticket holder always wears a bracelet emblazoned with the phrase “#winforGianna.”
“I would freak out if I didn’t have the bracelet on,” said Donohue, who thinks his late sibling might have something to do with the team’s success.
“The Knicks have been horrible, and all of a sudden we’re one of the top teams in the East,” he said. “One of my friends sent me a text that said, ‘I swear G is on some “Angels in the Outfield” type s–t.’”
Upper East Sider John Broder’s good-luck totem is as uncomfortable as being a lifelong Knicks fan: a mane that stretches to the middle of his back. The 46-year-old regularly grows out his hair to cut and donate to charity. He planned to chop it after the basketball season — but the Knicks kept winning, so he kept growing.
“This week it has gotten so hot,” Broder, who has tickets for the series, told The Post. “I can’t eat unless I put my hair up. I have friends who would freak out if I showed up [to a game] with it cut.”
If the Knicks defy the odds and win it all, Broder is committed to keeping the sweaty mane through July. “I am ready,” he said. “I would sacrifice that because it would be well worth it to have a parade downtown.”
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