This NBA campaign is about to embark in their newest experiment, as the In-Season Tournament will make its highly-awaited debut this Friday with a seven-game thriller. The league has been keen on providing a unique experience for fans, and recently released the competition’s official anthem from two legends of rap music.
LL Cool J and The Roots have joined forces once again to reimagine and combine two classic songs and melt them into one powerful tune that will lure NBA fans to tune into tonight’s inauguration. What would a remix between “Mama Said Knock You Out” and “Here I Come” sound like?
Check out the video below to witness LL, Questlove and Black Thought uniting to fuse their hits into a memorable In-Season anthem:
NEW TOURNAMENT. 🏆
NEW ANTHEM. 🎵LL COOL J and THE ROOTS reimagine GRAMMY Award-Winning single “Mama Said Knock You Out” for NBA In-Season Tournament Anthem pic.twitter.com/fdARZOJDSR
— NBA In-Season Tournament (@NBA) November 3, 2023
The NBA released a statement explaining the context behind the competition’s official track.“The anthem will serve as the musical backdrop for the stages of the In-Season Tournament, starting with Group Play involving all 30 teams and progressing through the single-elimination Knockout Rounds, culminating in the Championship,” it reads.
As for the famous rapper, he revealed he’s always been a huge basketball fan and appreciated the opportunity.
“I’ve been a fan of the NBA ever since I can remember, and it’s a real honor to have my record serving as the anthem for this monumental moment,” LL said in the release. “I’m excited to see the energy of the song translate to the play on the court during the NBA In-Season Tournament.”
Most fans around the social media have shown positive feedback after the song’s release, but mostly praised the NBA for their impressive commercial strategy. “I gotta hand it to the NBA. They know how to make up random crap that will make them millions. And really, not do much extra work outside of making a trophy and filming a couple promos,” wrote user @CharlesNorCal.
Another account was much more creative, and imagined a hypothetical situation inspired in a recent ESPN interview with Adam Silver.
“Charles Barkley: Commissioner Silver, what’re you doing about the increase in domestic violence incidents in the league. Adam Silver: (texting… ‘is it too late to cancel the Mama Says Knock You Out’ promo we’re going to run a thousand times over the next month?)” wrote @ginoradja.
NBA players and coaches show mixed feelings as In-Season Tournament is set to debut this Friday with seven-game thriller
The day is finally here! It is time to witness the NBA’s newest invention, as the In-Season tournament in set to make its debut tonight. However, not everyone is so excited about the league’s latest experiment, as most understand it as a business move.
New Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart recently echoed a sentiment that many around the NBA have been thinking about. “Being completely honest, nobody cares about it. It’s the big one that we care about,” he said recently.
Take a look at the NBA’s advertising investments to create hype around this new competition that will end in Las Vegas:
Despite the fact that not too many people around the league are terribly thrilled about it, others like Spurs coach Gregg Popovich believe it can serve as another competitive outlet that can provide hints for what’s to come when the playoffs arrive.
“It’s exciting for everybody,” claimed the San Antonio legend. “All these guys are very competitive… if you put something out there like this, it just adds to that competitiveness and really signals what might happen toward the end of the season.”
