Knicks superfan on Long Island recalls thrill of victory from 1973 NBA Finals championship
ROCKVILLE CENTRE, Long Island (WABC) -- While some Knicks fans have waited their whole lives to see their team win a championship, a superfan on Long Island said she remembers the thrill of victory like it was yesterday.
Lavert Henderson-Hobbs was in the crowd at Madison Square Garden in 1973 when the Knicks last won the NBA Finals, and she will be there again on Wednesday night cheering them on.
There are few things Henderson-Hobbs loves more than her Knicks, except being right. The 78-year-old super fan from Rockville Centre and has learned a thing or two these last 56 years.
"I said I been there for all these years and I'm telling you, they're not gonna sweep," she said.
She said she's gone to about 39 games each year since 1969.
"I've gone to over 2,000 games. I never counted up yet," Henderson-Hobbs said.
She also has countless memories and memorabilia, including photos with legends like Walt Frazier and Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, and autographed pieces of flooring from the Garden back in 1973 to remember that championship night when Lavert was only 25 years old.
"Oh my goodness! I remember it because I was nice, young. Kinda... miniskirt days," Henderson-Hobbs said.
At the start of what you might call a long "courtship," her first date was a Knicks game with a man named Ernest, her late husband, and they shared season tickets for decades. One ticket from 1986 was a bargain at just $18.
She showed Eyewitness News the ring they gave them for the 40th anniversary of the championship of 1973.
Lavert has a love for the game that supersedes winning or losing, or hating on Spurs star Victor Wembanyama.
"I'm a Knickerbocker fan, but I still love other players, when you come in.... you have talent," she said.
One of her greatest Knicks memories is in 1990 was a buzzer beater from Knick Trent Tucker.
"Three-point shot... and that changed the whole aspect of how they look at the ending of a game," Henderson-Hobbs said.
For Henderson-Hobbs, it's been a thrill to watch basketball, and her team evolve, even for more than five decades in waiting.
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