ST. BERNARD, Ohio — Walt McBride and his family plan to be in Cleveland on Saturday night with the New York Knicks two games away from appearing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
McBride, the Roger Bacon Assistant Dean of Students among other roles in 17 years, is the father of New York Knicks guard Miles McBride, who is in his fifth season in the NBA – all with the Knicks. Miles, a former West Virginia University player, is a 2019 Moeller graduate.
Miles won two Division I basketball state championships (2018 and 2019) at Moeller and is a former high school quarterback.
“He’s a workaholic,” Walt said of his son, nicknamed Deuce. “I think he gets that from being grounded and coming from Moeller and things like that. He’s always the first one there and last one to leave. He’s on time to things. It’s a blessing and hopefully he gets five more.”
The Knicks lead the Cavaliers 2-0 in the Eastern Conference finals with Game 3 set for 8 p.m. Saturday in Cleveland and televised on WCPO 9.
New York is seeking its first NBA championship since 1973, when former Ohio State and Middletown High School star Jerry Lucas was in his penultimate NBA season.
Walt, a former professional basketball player who competed at Xavier University and Summit Country Day, said New York is "loving it."
“Everybody is all in. New York – they really need this," Walt said.
Miles, 25, averages 12 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Knicks. He had a postseason career high 25 points May 10 in the Knicks’ series-clinching win at Philadelphia in an Eastern Conference semifinal. He was 7 of 9 from 3-pointers.
“I was amazed how many Knicks fans we have in Cincinnati and just around when we go to road games,” Walt said. “The (Roger Bacon) kids are loving it. They’ll come in and say, ‘Mr. McBride – we saw your son and let’s go Knicks.’ It’s exciting.”
Walt, a former high school basketball coach, enjoys watching Knicks games from his home. When he’s in an NBA arena, he’ll watch the first quarter from his seat and analyze the game from the arena's family room.
The McBride family is very close. The entire family, including parents Walt and Kim and siblings Trey, Miles and Kristen, will enjoy another opportunity to connect Saturday night in Cleveland.
Trey is also a professional basketball player in Germany.
“Before every game, I’ll text him and say, ‘Go get them. Let’s go.’ Something like that,” Walt said. “I used to text him different things like, ‘All right, stay down on defense. Watch this, watch that.' Then, he’ll text back, ‘Dad, I got this.’”
Each family member sends Miles a message right before the game.
“The family is very excited about what is going on,” Walt said. “They’ll send text messages in our family group and he’ll respond, ‘Thanks. Love you all, let’s keep it going.'”
