Bronx rapper Fat Joe saw something this weekend that he never thought he would see in his lifetime.
But those dreams came true Saturday night when the Knicks hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy after defeating the Spurs in five games for their first NBA championship in 53 years.
Fat Joe went on “The Beat with Ari Melber“ to talk about his experience during Knicks fever.
While Fat Joe is happy that the team he supported for most of his life is now on top of the basketball world, what stuck with him most was how the title brought New York together.
He pointed to a moment when he heard the city sing Jay-Z and Alecia Keys’ famous song “Empire State of Mind” after the Knicks finally brought home the crown with a 94-90 win in San Antonio.
“When you’ve seen thousands, maybe a million fans at one time singing that, man, it’s like a dream come true,” Fat Joe said on MS Now.
Knicks fans across all five boroughs took to the streets to celebrate the victory. The lesson Fat Joe took from the long wait was that it takes a lot to become a champion.
“The lesson is, you can’t buy a championship,” he said. “You can’t waltz, you can’t get lucky. You’ve got to earn your way to a championship. And it’s just like when we won, Mr. [James] Dolan gave that speech where he was like, ‘I’m sorry, New York, I was trying,’ you know, ‘I’m sorry it took so long to win this chip.’ That’s how hard it is to be a champion. You’ve got to beat the very, very best.”
The rapper also credited more than just the players for bringing home the trophy.
“But I want to thank everybody, man, for fighting hard — and the fans, man, we went out there. We went to Cleveland. We went to Atlanta. We went to San Antonio. I mean, by the thousands. There was so many New York fans all over,” Fat Joe said. “I like to think we willed them some way or another. We willed them. Like, whenever they had doubts, or whenever it was down, we was like, yeah, let’s go.
“These scenes in New York City will never get replaced.”
Fat Joe was a prominent member of Madison Square Garden’s celebrity row. The rapper traveled to most of the away games as well.
He ran into trouble in Cleveland when the Cavaliers revoked his courtside tickets for Games 3 and 4. Fat Joe was told that “New York Knick fans can’t sit courtside.”
Luckily for Fat Joe, he saw his team clinch the title in San Antonio without any issues.
The city will celebrate once more on Thursday as the Knicks’ parade will start at Battery Park and end at City Hall.
