bostonglobe
Police briefly stopped a New York Knicks player from Rhode Island during the teams championship parade Thursday in Manhattan, apparently mistaking him for a rowdy fan who hopped the gate, according to social media footage that quickly went viral.
A video clip posted to the Barstool X account shows a jubilant Kolek, a Knicks guard from Cumberland, R.I., trotting along the parade route, slapping five with fans pressed up against the guardrail before uniformed officers briefly place their hands on him to stop his progress.
He appears to say Im Tyler Kolek in the clip before Knicks star Jalen Brunsons father, team assistant coach Rick Brunson, intervenes and leads Kolek away from the officers.
Kolek, 25, took it all in fun.
I swear Im on the team bro, he posted to X following the incident, adding three laughing emojis for good measure.
Kolek emerged as one of the best point guards in college basketball at Marquette University before he was selected 34th overall in the NBA draft in 2024.
He starred at Cumberland High and played prep basketball at St.
Georges School in Middletown, R.I.
before going to George Mason University.
He was Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, but when his coach got canned, he transferred to the Big East to play at Marquette.
The Golden Eagles won the Big East Championship in 2023, and Kolek was the conference Player of the Year that year.
New Yorks finest, meanwhile, can perhaps be forgiven for the mix-up, as Kolek doesnt play a ton.
He appeared in 62 regular season games during the Knicks title run and did not appear at all in the NBA Finals, when the Knicks bested the Spurs to capture their first championship in more than half a century.
He averaged about 11 minutes per game during his regular season appearances, along with 4.4 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.6 rebounds, per his stat line on ESPN.com.
During one appearance on the Roommates podcast hosted by Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, they dubbed Kolek the Michael Jordan of Rhode Island.
Guess those New York cops never caught the episode.
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at [email protected]..