Newborn 'Good Luck Charms' Spark Knicks' NBA Finals Magic
Cameron Issacs, one of the youngest New York Knicks fans, stayed up way past his bedtime Wednesday night, watching his team trample the San Antonio Spurs with a 107-to-106 buzzer-beater victory. But winning is nothing new to the eight-day-old. He was born mere hours before the Knicks scored their first triumph against their southwestern opponents during Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 3. “He’s like their good luck charm,” mom Kazaya, 30, and dad Anthony, 35, both Bronx natives now living in South Florida, agreed with a laugh while exclusively talking to The Post. Cameron Isaacs is celebrated by his family as a good luck charm due to his birth coinciding with the Knicks’ game 1 NBA Finals victory. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony IsaacsBaby Cameron is one of hundreds of newborns to storm the scene — whether as near as the Upper East Side’s Lennox Hill Hospital, where Labor & Delivery nurses are gifting infants Knicks-bedecked beanies, or as far as the opposite coast — as the Knicks sprint ever-closer to their first championship trophy since 1973.The ballers fell short of the glory in 1994 and 1999, both times suffering sore losses that have loomed like a dark cloud over the city for nearly three decades. But now, with a 3-win lead over Spurs — a last-second accomplishment clinched by OG Anunoby, which sent thunderous thrills through the likes of Taylor Swift, Nas, Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner, Spike Lee and VIPs of similar ilk at the Garden Wednesday — the skies over NYC are finally shining blue (and orange) again. Swift (Left) and “Law & Order: SVU” star Mariska Hargitay sat in celebrity row, watching the heated matchup with bated breath. Getty ImagesAnunoby (Left) and Brunson led their team to victory last night as basketball fans anxiously watched game 4 of the NBA Finals. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostKylie Jenner joined beau Timothee Chalamet for the buzzy bout, cheering on the Knicks in a denim outfit to match the “Marty Supreme” star. Brad Penner-Imagn ImagesAnthony, a lifelong Knicks fanatic, has been breathing happy sighs of relief since his team’s fresh wind of fortunate hit full-force on his son’s birthday. “It was such a dreamy day,” gushed Anthony, a United States Postal Service worker, of the milestone moment for both his family and his big-game favorites. “Kazaya had the baby via C-section, and she scheduled it not even knowing that was Game 1 of the finals.”Anthony and Kazaya spent some of their pregnancy shopping for Knicks apparel, for themselves and baby Cameron, before his NBA Finals arrival. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony Isaacs“I was like, ‘Oh, my god, that’s Game 1. What are we gonna do?’ But then I realized the birth was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. that day,” added the zealot, founder of online fan community KnicksNation.At the crack of dawn on June 3, he and Kazaya, also parents to Cameron’s big sister, Aria, 8, headed to a hospital in Palm Beach County, Fl., dressed head-to-toe in New York Knicks gear. Branded hats, a blue and orange suitcase and a duffle bag stitched with point guard Jalen Brunson’s name and jersey number showcased their unabashed fandom.Their early appointment and sports fan swag helped put Anthony’s pounding heart at ease. Kazaya tells The Post she hopes her baby’s Game 1 birth is a precursor to the Knicks winning the NBA Championship. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony Isaacs“I was like, ‘Okay, he’ll be born, we’ll enjoy him and then the game will be in the evening,’” he recalled. “‘We can watch it with him.’”And that they did — right from the comforts of their hospital room. “When they won the first game of the Finals, I wanted to belt out screaming, but you know, I couldn’t because we were still in the hospital and I didn’t want to scare the baby,” said Anthony, who would have “loved” to name his first son “Jalen,” an honorable nod to Brunson, but already has a nephew with the hot moniker.Anthony struggled to curb his enthusiasm while watching the Knicks succeed in Game 1 from his wife’s post-delivery recovery room. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony IsaacsBorn a Knicks fan, little Cameron’s birth marked a record run for his family’s beloved boys in blue and orange. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony IsaacsFor Kazaya, a realtor, watching the Knicks spank the Spurs has come as a “nice distraction” as she’s convalescing post C-section — an invasive birthing procedure accomplished through incisions made in a mother’s abdomen and uterus. “Now that we’re home, recovery’s been rough and there’s a lot I can’t do right now,” said the second-time new mommy. “So watching them play is something fun that I can do while lying down on the couch.”Cameron, however, was upright, watching Game 4 with Anthony as he paced their living room floor during the nail-biting bout. Aria, a newly initiated Knicks fan like mom and dad, was fast asleep around midnight before being startled awake by Anthony’s screams when his home team secured the game series lead. While clad in their Knicks gear, Anthony and baby Cameron kept a close eye on last night’s game. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony IsaacsKazaya is happy to have birthed a family of Knicks fans, fueled by Anthony’s lifelong allegiance to the team. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony IsaacsKazaya and big sister Aria kept little Cameron company while Anthony jumped for joy over the Knicks’ Game 4 victory. Courtesy Kazaya and Anthony Isaacs“It was incredible,” Kazaya chuckled, unfazed by her hubby’s disruptive delight. “We were all really excited.”On May 8, 2026, Emilio Weeks came into the world, another Knicks-centered day marked by Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, in which the Knicks faced the 76ers.“Matt just kept saying, ‘You have to get this baby out before the game starts,” joked mother Alexis Hernandez of her husband.Matt Weeks cheered his wife, Alexis, on as she birthed their baby boy, Emilio, just in time for the Knicks v. Philadelphia 76ers face-off during the NBA Playoffs. Courtesy of Alexis HernandezWith just a few hours to spare between Emilio’s birth and the 8:30 p.m. tipoff, the New York native describes snuggling up with her newborn, enjoying Taco Bell with her husband of a decade, and watching the Knicks beat the 76ers.“It was bliss,” Hernandez said. “It felt like a true NY moment, in my hospital room downtown, with my NYC baby, watching the Knicks in the final.”Alexis, Matt and little Emilio enjoyed their first family breakfast watching Knicks coverage one day after the baby was born. Courtesy of Alexis HernandezIronically, her postpartum nurse was from Philly and had fun joking with the couple about who would win.“It’s interesting because you immediately love this newborn who is in your life for a few hours, but on the other hand, you have a moment of history happening from a team you’ve loved your entire life,” said her husband, also a native New Yorker, Matt Weeks. “So you hold your newborn and your iPhone, and you do both.”The next morning, breakfast was served, and the Knicks recap was aptly on the TV.
