NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (February 2, 2026) — The Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle has received a custom “Roundball Rock” artwork donated by the New York Knicks and NBC to celebrate the NBA’s return to NBC broadcasts.
The 3-foot-diameter, 30-pound spherical artwork, created by New York native Mark Paul Deren, now resides at the club’s Remington Clubhouse. It features the Knicks logo, New York City icons including the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge, fan faces and the chant “Go New York, Go New York, Go!” The piece is made from foam with an epoxy hard coat and wrapped in vinyl graphics, mounted on a vertical podium.
The Roundball Rock was previously displayed outside NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza headquarters in Manhattan as part of a nationwide project where artists created 30 custom Rocks, one for each NBA team, to mark the league’s partnership return to NBC and Peacock.
The donation aligns with NBC’s inaugural Sunday evening NBA broadcast on Feb. 1, featuring the Knicks’ victory over the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden.
The artwork was unveiled Jan. 30 in a ceremony at the Remington Clubhouse, covered live by WNBC-TV reporter Kay Angrum and broadcast on Telemundo 47. About 75 club youths attended, participating in a basketball clinic led by Klinic Kids, a Boys & Girls Club partner, and watching television reports.
“The Boys & Girls Club of New Rochelle is deeply appreciative to NBC Universal, WNBC and Telemundo 47 for honoring us with this beautiful donation and for supporting the great futures we offer our youths,” said CEO Becky Mazzanobile. “Basketball and the NBA are so important to our Club members. Having an authentic NBA and NBC memento on hand, especially one that’s so striking and inspiring, is such a treat.”
John Durso, vice president of community and communications at NBC Universal, who coordinated the donation, said during the event: “We’re all part of this community; we live here and we work here. We are all blessed with the opportunity to be here to give back. Thanks for allowing us to come into your home.”
Deren, who has created murals of NBA stars including Shaquille O’Neal and Scottie Pippen, said he had one day to conceive the design on an iPad before a production company built it physically.
“It’s an honor to be here with you guys,” Deren said. “I’m an artist living my dream, which I never thought I would do. The cool thing about is art is that I get to create for a living. Just like basketball, you have to practice it. You guys can accomplish anything. Hopefully this inspires you to become an artist too.”
Azzur’e Selby, an eighth-grade club member, described the event as fun and inspirational.
“I got the opportunity to learn new things in basketball. I made new friends, and I met new people that I didn’t even know about, so that was really important to me,” she said. “It was just really fun and inspirational, and I’m glad that I got the chance to experience this… I don’t really play basketball that much but I have started to kind of like it because of this event, so thank you.”
The NBA returned to NBC and Peacock for the 2025-2026 season after an absence since 2002, with weekly games including Monday exclusives on Peacock, Tuesday primetime on NBC and Sunday nights. The partnership revives the “Roundball Rock” theme by John Tesh and features from Michael Jordan, with “NBA Showtime” preceding games.
The Boys & Girls Club was selected by NBC and the Knicks for the donation due to its youth education and advocacy efforts.
RELATED
WNBC-TV: Knicks donate ‘Roundball Rock’ ball to Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.