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, were 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,” Carmelo 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.
As 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 as excited for Carmelo and his dad to live out their dream.
“I really wanted Knicks in 4, but now I want Nicks in 5!” one commenter wrote, while another read: “His shock and appreciation on how expensive this gift is just shows what an amazing young man you’ve raised!!!”
“The response was so positive,” Angelisa said. “Even Spike Lee commented on it,” her husband chimed in.
However, in a surprising turn of events, the Knicks defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in just four games, meaning Game 5 was nixed along with the opportunity for Carmelo and Felix to witness their favorite team play live.
“I just wanted them to go to the game, but I knew deep down Carmelo felt like he was the winner… he was the winner if he was going to game five, but he was also a winner if his team made it to the finals,” Angelisa told The Post.
Despite the family receiving a refund for the no-go tickets and Carmelo recording a follow-up video expressing how excited he was for his team advancing, millions of strangers, who Carmelo now calls his “TikTok and Instagram aunts and uncles,” tried donating money to send the Rios family to the Finals.
But the family refused: “We were not doing any of that crowdfunding,” said Angelisa.
Little did the Rios family know that Carmelo Anthony, former 2011-2017 Knickerbocker, and someone the 12-year-old and his father idolize, had bigger plans.
Angelisa explained to The Post how the former NBA player worked behind the scenes alongside Fanatics, the official sports merch and collectible store, to secure two Game 4 of the Finals tickets at MSG on June 10.
Along with the opportunity to witness basketball history, the middle schooler also received a custom Knicks Jersey and a personalized video from the retired player.
“They went above and beyond,” even throwing in the shorts Carmelo so badly wanted, Angelisa proudly told The Post.
“When I finally got the news, I just cried again,” said Carmelo.
When Fanatics posted a TikTok video of Carmelo receiving the incredible news, thousands of people ran to the comment section to share the 12-year-old’s excitement.
“I HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT CARMELO EVERYDAY SINCE GAME 4!!!!!!” one person wrote. “I’m crying so hard and I never met any of these people a day in my life,” another chimed in.
“I have been thinking about this sweet boy and his family for WEEKS!!!”
But the feel-good news didn’t stop there.
Sports betting company Kalshi caught wind of the story and didn’t want Angelisa, who also just celebrated a birthday, to be left out.
“They contacted me and said, ‘We understand he [Carmelo] has his ticket secured, but you’re still not going. And this all started with you. They gifted me two tickets,” the proud mom told The Post.
And of course, for Felix — this has all turned out even better than he could’ve imagined for his family.
“I grew up being a Knicks fan from the Patrick Ewing days when I was around Carmelo’s age… And obviously, the Knicks are the one team that unifies all of New York,” he said.
“We went through some crazy times, but of course we stayed loyal. And that’s why this is so exciting, to have this be such an amazing thing and have Carmelo be a part of that and giving people hope. It’s a dream come true for me.”
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