1 week ago
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It's still so beatuful that this happened — all of it, every bit. On Saturday night, the city of New York exploded into collective euphoria when the New York Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win their first NBA Championship in 53 years, thanks to a heroic 45-point performance from future Hall Of Famer Jalen Brunson. You don't have to be a Knick fan to love that. You just have to love watching collective joy in action — video after video of fans flooding the streets, hanging from streetlights, hugging strangers, blaring Jadakiss. It's been many, many years since I lived in NYC, and I never claimed the Knicks, but I was elated.
Another great New York team played a small role in the proceedings. Every Knicks victory was dramatic, but the most dramatic was Game 4, when the team overcame a 29-point deficit to win it by one, thanks to an OG Anunoby tip-in that's going to appear in highlight reels for decades. That night, the Wu-Tang Clan, incoming Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees, played the halftime show. (Well, some of them did, anyway, which means this crowd got the full Wu-Tang experience. Taylor Swift, sitting courtside, had to be like, "I guess GZA was busy.") At the end of their set, Method Man declared, "Knicks in 5," even though the team was down by 27 points at that moment. But he was right. The Knicks came back, won the game, and then got another comeback win on Saturday. They won it in five.
Last night, the Knicks were the guests on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show — the whole team, making their entrance to the Roots covering "We Are The Champions" while blue and orange confetti rained down and Jalen Bronson carried the Larry O'Brien Trophy. I'm never in a rush to give Fallon credit for anything, but he and his team staged that moment right — filling the audience with loud-ass Knick fans, getting Spike Lee to crash the monologue, keeping James Dolan away, booking the Wu-Tang Clan as musical guests.
Well, again, some of the Wu-Tang Clan. The full Knicks team showed up, but the full Wu-Tang team did not. maybe Inspectah Deck was like, "I'm really more of a New Orleans Pelicans fan." Nevertheless, the audience got to see the RZA, Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Raekwon, Cappadonna, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard's son Young Dirty Bastard run though a medley of classic anthems from 1993's Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) while decked out in Knicks gear. (Fun fact: The Knicks' two '90s championship losses both happened after that album came out. That album is old!) Once again, Wu-Tang adjusted their lyrics for television, replacing all their cusswords. So: "Bring the New York City ruckus!," "Wu-Tang-Clan ain't nuthin' ta fuss wit'!" Please enjoy the spectacle below.
I looked it up, and Jordan Clarkson, the oldest player on this Knicks team at 34, was born in 1992. That means that at least one Knick is older than the songs that Wu-Tang performed last night. Let's all breathe a sigh of relief at that.
English (US) · 