'Heroes': WNBA champions Liberty feted with New York parade

NEW YORK — Thousands of adoring fans of the New York Liberty celebrated the hometown champions with a ticker tape parade Thursday (Friday Manila time) in honor of the club's first WNBA title.

The Liberty erased an early 12-point deficit and beat the Minnesota Lynx, 67-62, in an overtime thriller on Sunday (Monday in Manila) to claim the first championship in franchise history.

The Liberty won the best-of-five Finals 3-2 for a long-awaited breakthrough crown. They had lost five prior Finals and were the league's only remaining original franchise without a title.

Their triumph earned them the third New York ticker tape parade for a women's sports team — and the first for a New York City women's outfit.

"It's absolutely amazing, and they deserve it," said Aracelis Amadeo, 51, a paralegal from the Bronx.

"These women deserve it, everything that they're getting today."

A convoy of floats and open-top buses processed up Manhattan's "Canyon of Heroes" to City Hall with Finals Most Valuable Player Jonquel Jones leading proceedings as supporters wearing Statue of Liberty visors threw ticker tape.

"I couldn't dream of this," Jones told reporters at the parade.

"There's been so (many) sacrifices that had to happen for us to be able to do this."

Players and staff were given an escort by mounted police officers and bagpipe bands.

Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind", an ode to New York, blared out of sound systems as the team's elephant mascot Ellie danced in time to the music.

"I just like the way they play together — they have fun, even though they got the job done," said Elena, a fan from neighboring New Jersey who had taken a day off to attend the parade.

"They've come a long way."

A New York tradition, ticker tape parades have been held since the end of the 19th century to celebrate heads of state, returning soldiers, astronauts and sports champions.

Megan Rapinoe and the US women's football team were honored with parades in 2015 and 2019 to celebrate their World Cup titles.