NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 10: Jose Alvarado #5 of the New York Knicks shoots against Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs in Game Four of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden on June 10, 2026 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
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Joe Arbitello had seen enough. Multiple times Wednesday night, he turned off the television in his home in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, N.Y. Arbitello, the basketball coach at Christ the King High School in Queens, was sick of the San Antonio Spurs dominating the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the NBA finals. He didn’t even want to watch Jose Alvarado, a 6-foot Knicks point guard whom Arbitello coached a decade ago.
These were the Knicks of old, a franchise that always seems to choke in the playoffs. Arbitello, who was born in 1977, has never seen the Knicks win a title. Soon, that drought may end, as the Knicks overcame a 29-point second half deficit to defeat the Spurs 107-106, take a three games to one lead and get to within one victory from their first championship in 53 years.
As the Knicks came back in the second half, Arbitello received numerous messages, so he eventually put the TV on. He saw Alvarado score eight points in the fourth quarter, making an important contribution in a game that will long live in Knicks’ lore.
When the cameras showed Alvarado sitting on the bench in the third quarter, Arbitello turned to his wife. At the time, Alvarado was scoreless and had played only a few minutes.
“I said, ‘He’s going to do something real special if he gets back in the game,’” Arbitello said. “I’ve seen that look before.”
Indeed, he had. Alvarado had a decorated career at Christ the King, a premier Catholic school whose alums include former NBA players Lamar Odom, Jayson Williams and Speedy Claxton and ex-WNBA stars Sue Bird, Chamique Holdsclaw and Tina Charles.
Alvarado, who grew up in Brooklyn and moved to Queens during high school, played on the freshman team before joining the varsity as a sophomore, where he played alongside guard Rawle Alkins, who ended up at the University of Arizona. That season, Christ the King won its third consecutive Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) city title.
When Alkins transferred to a high school in North Carolina, Alvarado became the main option as a junior, winning the CHSAA’s most valuable player award. He also helped the NY Rens grassroots team advance to the quarterfinals of the prestigious Nike EYBL Peach Jam summer tournament.
While area colleges such as Rutgers and Seton Hall showed interest, Alvarado instead committed in September 2016 to Georgia Tech, whose coach, Josh Pastner, displayed faith in Alvarado despite doubts from others. Shortly after Pastner took the Georgia Tech job in April 2016, assistant Tavaras Hardy told Pastner about Alvarado, so Pastner began asking around about Alvarado.
“Everybody was telling me he’s too slow, too short, not athletic enough,” said Pastner, who is now the coach at UNLV. “They’re like, ‘Coach, you can’t recruit this kid. You’re in the ACC.’”
Still, that summer, Pastner wanted to take a look at Alvarado. He remembers watching him play for the Rens in a tournament in Las Vegas on a Sunday morning.
“Two high-level dudes, they weren’t playing hard at all,” Pastner said. “Jose was so mad at them. He got into their grill, took them by the jersey, because he was playing so darn hard. I was like, ‘Man, I’ve got to have that kid.’”
As a freshman, Alvarado immediately joined Georgia Tech’s starting lineup, becoming the primary ball handler and averaging 12.1 points in 35 minutes per game. He sustained a season-ending elbow injury in February 2018, but he rebounded the next season and led Georgia Tech with 12.5 points, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game as a sophomore. He was third-team All Atlantic Coast Conference as a junior and second team as a senior, when he was also the league’s defensive player of the year.
“He’s tough as nails,” Pastner said. “He’s a winner. Winning is more important to him than actually breathing.”
Although the NCAA granted players such as Alvarado an extra year of eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic, he chose to enter the NBA draft. No team selected Alvarado, but he signed a two-way contract with the New Orleans Pelicans in August 2021. With the Pelicans, Alvarado became a reliable backup point guard, including averaging a career-high 10.3 points and 4.6 assists per game last season.
In February, the Pelicans traded Alvarado to the Knicks, a team in the midst of an eight-game winning streak to improve to 33-18. Alvarado called his old high school coach when he found out about the deal.
“He was like, ‘This is a dream come true,’” Arbitello said.
During the regular season with the Knicks, Alvarado averaged 6.6 points and shot 41.4% from the field and was in and out of the rotation. In the playoffs, he’s had a similar role, averaging 4.4 points and shooting 46.8% in 17 games off the bench.
“Jose is just like, ‘I just want to do my job. I want to win,’” Arbitello said. “He’s getting limited minutes, and you just never hear him complain about it.”
And why would he? The Knicks are in the finals for the first time since 1999, and Alvarado’s popularity in the city has exploded. Pastner spoke with Alvarado last weekend.
“He’s telling me whether it’s Ben Stiller or Timothee Chalamet, Tracy Morgan, whomever it may be, they all want pictures with him,” Pastner said. “They all want Jose’s number. They love Jose. I don’t care if you’re sitting there in the front row or you’re there in the rafters, you love Alvarado.”
For Monday’s Game 3, Christ the King held a watch party at the school for about 350 people, including Alvarado’s parents and children. Patrizia’s, a local restaurant, donated 40 pizzas, and local television stations showed up. The Knicks lost, snapping their 13-game winning streak, while Alvarado had four points in 12 minutes and didn’t score in the second half.
Two nights later, it was a different story.
In the first half, Alvarado played just three minutes and 27 seconds, committed two fouls and didn’t have a point, rebound or assist. He wasn’t alone in his struggles, as the Knicks trailed by 27 points at halftime, the third-largest deficit in finals history.
Alvarado missed another shot in the third quarter when he played only two minutes and 35 seconds. But with the Knicks trailing by 18 points with 9:46 remaining, coach Mike Brown inserted Alvarado into the lineup and kept him in nearly the rest of the way.
Thirty seconds after checking in, Alvarado made a 3-pointer. He then committed three fouls in less than three minutes, giving him five for the night. Still, Brown didn’t take him out, a move that ended up paying dividends when Alvarado made a finger roll layup to cut the Knicks’ deficit to 102-97 and a 3 to get New York within 104-100.
On the next Knicks’ possession, Alvarado passed the ball to Jalen Brunson, whose 3 cut San Antonio’s lead to one point. And when OG Anunoby blocked DeAaron Fox’s layup with about 11 seconds left, Alvarado grabbed the loose ball, dribbled past halfcourt, drew a foul and called timeout. Alvarado wasn’t on the court when Anunoby tipped-in Brunson’s missed 3 for a 107-106 lead with 1.2 seconds left. And he was on the bench when Karl-Anthony Towns deflected the Spurs’ last inbounds pass, disrupting the play and helping the Knicks escape with the improbable victory.
Still, Alvarado will never forget Wednesday night, nor will anyone watching, especially those who know Alvarado best.
Jordan McLaughlin, a 5-foot-11 Spurs’ reserve who hasn’t played a minute in the finals, is the only player in the NBA who is shorter than Alvarado, while four other NBA players are listed at 6-feet. And Alvarado may be generous with his height.
“He’s not 6-feet,” Pastner said. “He’s 5-9. Trust me.”
He added: “He’s defied all odds. People who said he wasn’t good enough, athletic enough, too slow to play in the ACC, they all said the same thing about him in the NBA, and he just continues to fight odds.”
Said Arbitello: “I thought maybe with his heart and determination he would get a shot to be on a G-League team, and maybe get on (an NBA) roster, but not to do this. Never. And anybody who says they did is lying to you. It’s just an incredible achievement.”
At Christ the King Thursday morning, where Arbitello is also the principal, everyone was talking about Alvarado and the Knicks. A colleague brought up Giants receiver David Tyree’s catch with just over a minute left in the 2008 Super Bowl as the only moment in New York sports history this century that could compare with the Knicks’ victory Wednesday night.
“I think it’s up there with the Giants,” Arbitello said.
If the Knicks win one more game and the title, this team could surpass that Giants team in the New York pantheon. After all, the Giants had won Super Bowls in the 1986 and 1990 seasons, while the Knicks’ championship drought dates back to 1973. And while there are plenty of NFL fans in the area who root for the New York Jets, almost all NBA fans in the New York region are Knicks’ supporters.
Alvarado was once of them. He still is. He hasn’t forgotten his roots.
Three days after making his Knicks’ home debut in February, Alvarado attended Christ the King’s senior night game and spoke to the team. And during an interview with a local television station recently, current Christ the King players Skye Ragoo and Johnny Magna recalled how Alvarado replied to their texts shortly after the Knicks won the Eastern Conference finals last month. Arbitello overheard the conversation.
“I thought they were lying,” Arbitello said. “That can’t be true.”
When the reporter asked to see the messages, Arbitello was proven wrong.
“That’s the kind of person he is,” Arbitello said. “He’s an amazing individual.”
Alvarado’s made millions, earned a spot in the NBA and become a New York celebrity. Still, his old coach said he hasn’t changed too much.
“I always picture Jose in his Knicks’ gear when he was a kid,” Arbitello said. “He was a Knicks fan. Jose is a true New York guy. There’s nothing phony about him.”
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