The New York Knicks are NBA champions, and they are celebrating on late night television. The team will take over Monday's episode of The Tonight Show on June 15, two days after defeating the San Antonio Spurs in game five of the NBA Finals.
According to Billboard, host Jimmy Fallon will sit down with series MVP Jalen Brunson along with teammates Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges. Head coach Mike Brown and the Knicks City Dancers are also expected to appear, along with additional guests not yet announced.
Fallon called it "a booking 53 years in the making," a reference to the more than half a century since the franchise last won the title in 1973.
The episode will also feature a performance from Wu-Tang Clan, whose connection to this postseason run has become part of the story. The Staten Island group performed a halftime set at Madison Square Garden during game four of the Finals on June 11, when the Knicks were down 76-49 at the break. After the performance, which included a medley featuring "Bring da Ruckus," "Method Man" and "C.R.E.A.M.," the Knicks mounted a comeback that erased the largest deficit in NBA playoff history, winning 107-106 to put themselves one game away from the championship.
The Knicks clinched the title two days later in San Antonio in game five.
Game four drew a celebrity crowd at MSG that included Taylor Swift, Este and Alana Haim, Timothée Chalamet, Chris Rock, Adam Sandler, Sydney Sweeney, Spike Lee, Tracy Morgan and Ben Stiller. Fallon was also in attendance, watching the historic comeback in person.
In a nod to fans who followed the team through the Finals without tickets, NBC said the entire studio audience for Monday's Tonight Show will be made up of die-hard Knicks fans who were unable to attend the games in person.
