If hip-hop had playoffs who would you want to see in the finals? Me? I’d want to see veterans The Roots take on A$AP Mob. But since my dreams aren’t realities ESPN has given me a consolidation prize and recruited Philly’s finest, The Roots, to produce this year’s NBA Finals theme song Champion.
Black Thought, Questlove, and the rest of the crew recorded a song to featured in the new 2016 NBA Finals spot Show Me You’re A Champion. The song outlines the blood, sweat and tears required to climb to the top of the NBA, and its video showcases the moments where all that sacrifice finally pays off. The clip features Black Thought rhyming over vintage footage cut to look as though some of NBA’s biggest names were back on the outdoor courts where their passion first began, and features: Magic Johnson‘s hook shot in the ’87 Finals; Michael Jordan‘s crossover jumper over Byron Russell; Larry Bird‘s celebratory towel wave; Kobe and Shaq‘s embrace following their first title. Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Tim Duncan, Dwyane Wade, and Paul Pierce also celebrate NBA championships in the spot.
Whose year will it be this year? Will unanimous MVP Steph Curry be able to lead Golden State to a championship? Or will the Thunder take it. Perhaps LeBron can further prove he is the greatest and lead the Cavs to victory? Or will the upset of the decade happen and the Raptors win?
Hip-hop is firmly cemented into basketball culture, and now ESPN is continuing that bond. Last week we had hosts of the ESPN show Highly Questionable bring Fat Joe in to discuss Notorious Big’s I Got A Story To Tell, this week they have the Legendary Roots crew making the NBA Finals promo, and earlier in the year PRhyme, the duo of DJ Premier & Royce 5’9, were commissioned to create the theme song for ESPN’s NBA Countdown, titled Rockin’ With The Best.
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