Cherry Hill East Grad Rose Built the Knicks NBA Championship Team
The New York Knicks ended a 53-year championship drought by beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games during the NBA finals and the architect of the team hails from South Jersey. The 65-year-old Rose is a graduate of Cherry Hill East, where he was a point guard for legendary coach John Valore, who he has remained close with. In fact, Rose also served as an assistant coach for three years at Cherry Hill East as well.
Late in the 2019-2020 season Rose was named president of the Knicks after being one of the most successful agents, where among his clients were LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Joel Embiid and former Camden legend Dajuan Wagner.
One of Rose’s first moves was hiring his long-time associate and Pennsauken graduate William Wesley as the Knicks executive vice president – senior basketball advisor.
In Rose’s first two full seasons, the Knicks went 41-31 and 37-45. It was a difficult rebuild, but he stayed the course. Over the last four years, the Knicks won at least one playoff series. In 2024-25, the Knicks reached the Eastern Conference finals before losing to Indiana. Despite advancing to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 1999-2000, the Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau and hired Mike Brown, who steered this year’s team to the championship.
Here are among other moves that Rose made that built this championship team (courtesy of Baseball-reference.com).
July of 2022, signed Jalen Brunson as a free agent from the Dallas Mavericks. That proved to be the biggest move that lifted the Knicks to the championship. Brunson was this year’s NBA Finals MVP. He has been a three-time All-Star with the Knicks and the driving force of the championship team.
Also in July of 2022, the Knicks re-signed Mitchell Robinson, who became a major force off the bench and among the top offensive rebounders in the NBA.
Feb. 2023, As part of a four-team trade with the Sixers, Portland and Charlotte, the Knicks acquired Josh Hart from Portland. Hart became an invaluable starter who had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the clinching 94-90 Game 5 win over the Spurs.
Dec. 2023, Acquired OG Anunoby in a multi-player trade with the Toronto Raptors and then re-signed Anunoby in July of 2024. Anunoby had the historic winning shot in Game 4 against the Spurs and was a two-way standout for the Knicks and arguably their second best player in the NBA finals.
July 2024. Acquired Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets that included players and five first round draft choices. Bridges was a defensive force and had an inconsistent regular season in 2025-26, but was a strong playoff performer, who had 14 points, four assists and no turnovers in the closeout win over the Spurs.
Oct. 2024, Acquired center Karl-Anthony Towns in a three-team trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets. Towns has been an All-Star in each of his two seasons with the Knicks and he was the team’s best player in their first two games of the NBA finals, two victories in San Antonio.
Dec. 2024, Signed Landry Shamet as a free agent after waiving him two months earlier. Then re-signed Shamet in Sept. of 2025. Shamet became a vital playoff performer. He scored 13 points off the bench in each of the Knicks first two wins over the Spurs.
Feb. 2026, Acquired Jose Alvarado in a trade with the New Orleans Pelicans. Alvardo didn’t see consistent minutes, but his biggest contribution was scoring eight points in under 16 minutes in the Knicks’ 107-106 win in Game 4 over the Spurs. That was the game in which the Knicks overcame a 29-point second half deficit. Alvarado was a major spark, hitting 2-3 three-pointers.
This is an impressive resume by Rose because the Knicks are not only champions, but are built to contend for the foreseeable future.
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Author: Marc Narducci
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