Exclusive | Adorable Knicks superfan gets surprise of a lifetime as millions of people rally behind him: Crying so hard
Carmelo Rios, 12, was born a Knicks fan.He was named after former Knicks superstar Carmelo Anthony.He’s supported and cheered on his favorite team from as early as he could crawl, alongside his die-hard fan of a father, Felix.And now people around the world are rooting for not only NYC’s beloved home team, but for the middle-schooler to live out his dream of watching the Knicks claw their way back to basketball glory.As Carmelo celebrated his 12th birthday on May 23, the Knicks, which hadn’t gotten this far since 1999 and hadn’t held a championship title since 1973, was going neck to neck against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs.Humbly asking his parents for a pair of Knicks shorts for his birthday his mother, NYC-based photographer, Angelisa, had something better in mind: Game 5 playoff tickets.“I was going to get three tickets for us, but when we saw the prices of the playoff tickets, I wanted to get them in a really good section,” Angelisa explained.“It was really just not only having them in the building, but having them at seats where it’s a once in a lifetime experience.”She pulled the trigger and purchased the $1,700 tickets from TickPick, despite not being sure if Game 5 was even going to happen.“I open all my gifts that day, and the shorts aren’t in there,” Carmello recalled to The Post.
“Then my mom says, ‘I forgot to give you one last gift…’ I see a piece of paper that says “New York Knicks versus Cleveland Cavaliers, Game 5, Madison Square — I was going insane, the 12-year-old explained, understanding the gift’s magnitude and the sacrifice his parents made to purchase it.Like many excited parents do, Angelisa recorded her son’s shocked reaction and posted it to her photography account’s TikTok page.“Literally an hour later, she picks up her phone, checks the video, and it’s gone absolutely viral,” Carmelo said.The touching video has garnered close to 900,000 views, with thousands of commenters just ...