It’s June 10, 2026, and RZA, the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, is reading the room — a really big room.
The Wu’s many members have once again joined forces to rock Madison Square Garden, but this is no ordinary hometown concert. The newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members are set to perform during halftime of Game 4 of the NBA Championship series, where the Knicks have a 2-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs.
Before the game, the mood is as festive as New Year’s Eve in Times Square. The Knicks and Wu-Tang meet in a hallway near the locker rooms, big each other up, shake hands, “What’s up?!” The two teams know each other well: We’ve seen Knicks players in ads for Wu-Tang Jordan Brand sneakers, and we’ve seen Wu-Tang do freestyles for the brand Kith, which promoted the Knicks. It’s love.
But it’s a very different scene a couple of hours later. A pall has settled over the Garden as the Knicks’ faithful, including Timothee Chalamet, Spike Lee, Taylor Swift, Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld and beloved alumni like Patrick Ewing and John Starks — not to mention the 19,000-odd fans who’d shelled out tens of thousands for tickets —have been deflated by the Knicks’ shockingly poor play… so poor that they are down by 2 points and, if they were to win, it would be the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.
Wu-Tang to the rescue: “It’s a little soggy out there,” RZA says. “Let’s get the energy up.”
A barrage of Wu bangers follows — “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing ta F’ Wit” and “Method Man,” capped with the classic anthem of resilience, “C.R.E.A.M.” But louder and more resounding than any lyric were Method Man’s defiant words of inspiration before his group stepped off the parquet: “Knicks in five! What y’all talkin’ about?!” As if by sheer force of will, he was manifesting that not only would the Knicks get themselves together and take Game 4, but they would not lose another game in the best-of-seven series.
“Honestly, I was just poppin’ shit,” Meth said Monday in the green room at 30 Rock in New York. He had just gotten a fresh haircut and was waiting to rehearse with Wu for their appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” where Wu and the Knicks were guests.
“I was kinda mad because some of the crowd stopped believing,” he continued. “The energy in the room was a little different. In that moment, I said what needed to be said. Whether it was true or not, it needed to be said.”
Wu-Tang co-founder Raekwon the Chef added, “It’s a game, so you pray your team comes through. It was intense, though, and when it was time to do the halftime show, we wanted to bring the energy in the best way that would allow the Knicks and the crowd to be rejuvenated. For us, it felt like an important show. Seeing so many celebrities out there, down for the cause, just boosted our confidence. Because we were not only doing it for the fans, we were doing it for our peers and for our [basketball] legends out there that we respect. It was about going out there like, ‘We down — but we won’t be down too long. Watch what happens. Have faith!’”
That perspective was echoed separately by fellow OG and lifelong New Yorker Chuck D. of Public Enemy. “It’s like there was a little bad karma in the air from 47-45 sitting on his ass up in the Garden on Monday,” Chuck said, referring to spoiler-in-chief Donald J. Trump’s loudly booed appearance at Game Three, where the Knicks’ 13-game post-season winning streak was snapped by the Spurs. “I think Wu-Tang and the Knicks saged the Garden,” he said, referring to the ritual of burning sage to quell evil spirits. “They saved it and saged it at the same time!”
As anyone reading this knows, the Knicks accomplished the seemingly impossible and won Game Four, and broke a 53-year bad-luck streak to take the title in San Antonio on Saturday night — their first championship since May 10, 1973.
To put that in perspective, hip-hop culture itself hadn’t officially been born until a few months later, in August of that year.
“The emotions were so strong, I started crying,” veteran producer-DJ-rapper and lifelong Knicks fan Pete Rock, who was three years old when the Knicks last won the championship, told Variety. “I’m born and raised here in New York. The Knicks have been the only basketball team I’ve ever rooted for. I started thinking about the people who aren’t here and who supported the Knicks, and I got extra emotional. [My cousin], Heavy D liked the Knicks. Me and [late Tribe Called Quest rapper] Phife Dawg were close — Phife lovvved the Knicks. It’s a shame he’s not here; he would be ecstatic.”
“Finally, right? Orange and blue skies!” said Chuck D with audible enthusiasm, referring to the Knicks’ colors. He became a fan in 1967 and can remember the franchise’s first two championships in 1970 and 1973.
“This Knicks team that we’re looking at now, it didn’t remind me of the ‘90s Knicks,” he added of the Patrick Ewing-led team that came closest to a championship in during the long dry spell. “That was a different squad. This squad reminds me of the Knicks I grew up with [in the ’70s]. It was like we had stars and superstars, but they all played as one.
“These Knicks did it like Wu-Tang, man!,” he enthused. “And that’s why, from a hip-hop head’s perspective, my proudest look on all this is how they took hip-hop — and I think Wu-Tang contributed, karma-wise — in NBA history. And you know the crazy thing? If the Knicks went to a Game Six, myself and Flavor Flav were invited to do ‘Bring the Noise,’ and we were going to drag in [Run-DMC’s] DMC and [A Tribe Called Quest’s] Q-Tip to be relief pitchers. But my thing was, ‘I hope that don’t happen.’ As a Knicks fan, I was like, ‘Man, close this thing out.’ And that’s what they did.”
The past couple of years, and especially during this playoff run, New York’s hip-hop artists have been the loudest and proudest fans of the team that calls Madison Square Garden home. Rappers like Wu-Tang Clan and Cardi B have performed halftime shows, while a slew of up-and-coming MCs and veterans like Maino have performed surrounded by fans outside MSG. French Montana and Max B called on Remy Ma to make a Knicks-centric remix version of their hit smash “Ever Since U Left Me,” which was heavily featured on ABC and ESPN during the finals. The likes of Jay-Z, Nas, A$AP Rocky, and DJ Khaled have shown up to Knicks home games, while people like Jadakiss, Teyana Taylor and Fat Joe have also made the trek to away games.
In fact, Joe —along with his manager Rich Player — has been as much a staple at Knicks games as Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan, Mariska Hargitay, Timothée Chalamet and Ben Stiller.
“It meant everything to me to watch the Knicks win the championship,” Joe said on Tuesday. “I’ve been going to games since I was a kid sitting in the nosebleeds, so it still feels like a dream to have been part of this ride. There was a time that I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see the Knicks win a title during my lifetime, but this team was a resilient group, Mike Brown is a coaching mastermind, and Mr. Dolan is a phenomenal owner. As long as I’m alive, I will always stand with the Knicks, and I’m grateful to the franchise for doing the same for me.”
Remy Ma added with a laugh, “Joe might be getting some sleep for the first time since the playoffs started! He’s literally been a fan since he was young. We’ve sat through the games on Celebrity Row through the years when they weren’t winning, but we were still sitting there supporting. There have always been moments when I thought we were right there, but something always happened — I was there when [former Knicks star Kristaps] Porziņģis got injured. I was like, ‘Ah, man!’”
Remy also said she was excited to do her part — rapping on the “Big Bronx Remix” of “Ever Since U Left Me” — in supporting her city’s team.
“I went to my daughter’s school and someone was like, ‘Yo! You helped us win. That song was inspirational,’” she recalled with a smile.
“Hearing the song during the playoffs is crazy, man,” said French Montana. “I love it, especially being from New York. That’s a beautiful thing to see, hip-hop united [because of the Knicks]. We’ve seen it for so many years in Los Angeles and other cities — everywhere but New York! And New York is the mecca of that flash, that wave, and the mecca of hip-hop, but it seemed like the Knicks weren’t keeping up with that.
“The last year the Knicks won, hip-hop was created. So Lord knows what we’re gonna create after this win!”
Max B recently posted footage of himself being drawn to tears after the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns FaceTimed him during the championship locker room celebration in San Antonio after Game Five. Towns had previously gifted Max a unique one-of-one team home jersey that read “Biggaveli 140” across the back.
“We live here; we’re born and raised here. So to have the team that’s been going through the ups and downs all my generation show love, that feels good,” said veteran Harlem rapper Max B. “I remember all that disappointment, all the ups and downs. The good teams we had that were championship caliber and could have won it all, but we always got disappointed. But this is a new team — this is a new day.”
All throughout social media, you can see footage of New York’s hip-hop community celebrating, whether it be Bobby Shmurda dancing and yelling in the studio after the Knicks won or Jim Jones walking through the streets by Madison Square Garden to celebrate with the people. New York’s hip-hop community, like seemingly the entire city, is galvanized.
“I’ve never seen this level of unity,” said Jones. “Everybody is on it — and everybody is in the studio trying to make songs to support their city.”
Brooklyn rapper Stunna Sandy, who recently guested on Drake’s “Maid of Honour” album, said, “New York needed this! The vibe right now is different — the city feels lighter. Hip-hop and basketball are almost the same thing in New York, so seeing artists showing up for the Knicks, it only makes sense: It’s New York showing up for New York.”
A major reason for the unity is that New Yorkers have felt each other’s pain for decades. During years of futility, fans have wept collectively both figuratively and literally.
“We’ve been through so much pain!” lamented Pete Rock. “Losing two finals, being in the playoffs and not getting into the finals, dumb trades, dumb free-agent signings, dumb draft picks. We looked at other cities and saw everybody else winning — more pain. Sometimes I’d be so mad, I’d just start crying out of anger — but now it’s tears of joy.”
Chuck D felt it more than most. “When my older kids were growing up, they would stare at me because I loved the Knicks and the team was terrible — the team was actually terrible all of my kids’ young life! But I’ve been following the Knicks since 1967 with my grandpa. [Knick fans] didn’t go around and follow other teams from other cities: It’s like, ‘This is us, win lose or draw. This is our team.’ So after going through all of that, this is a special time.”
Steve Rifkind, founder of Loud Records, the original home of the Wu-Tang Clan, was in the building for all three Knicks championship-clinching games in 1970, 1973, and this past Saturday.
“This win is so tremendous for all of the fans who have been suffering for all these years,” Rifkind said. “I have actually broken my hand twice punching walls because I was so mad at different Knicks teams that completely blew playoff games we should have won: Ewing missing the finger roll, Charles Smith missing the layups. Don’t get me started!
“But this team came together,” he concluded. “They’re really friends off the court. They play hard, they play selflessly and they play as a team. I’m on cloud nine like the entire city of New York.”
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