National Basketball Association music
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The National Basketball Association, arguably more than any other professional sport, is highly connected with the music world. The league has been criticized for its "marriage" to hip hop music and has also had its own famous anthem in Roundball Rock. In recent years, it has embraced country music and musicians and bands that could be considered tame by some observers (such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Rob Thomas and Justin Timberlake).
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[edit] Hip Hop
- For more details on the NBA and hip hop, see National Basketball Association criticisms and controversies.
For several years, the NBA has embraced "Hip-hop culture". Rappers Nelly and Jay-Z have ownership stakes in NBA teams (the Charlotte Bobcats and New Jersey Nets respectively), and many artists have worn NBA throwback jerseys in music videos. In turn, the NBA plays rap and hip-hop in arenas during games, and ABC/ESPN uses the music during its coverage. Players in the NBA have tried rap or hip-hop themselves (Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson (under the rap name "Jewels"), and notoriously, Ron Artest are some examples) and several also dress and act in ways that are in accordance with hip-hop culture (for example, the tattoos and jewelery worn by several players).
[edit] Television
[edit] CBS Sports
Unlike later NBA broadcast partners, CBS used lyrics in their theme music from 1974-76. The lyrics, sung in an upbeat fashion by an ensemble of singers, were paired with visuals using rotoscoped basketball players in silouette, against a black background and outlined in different colors. The lyrics for the full version (there were also shorter versions of the theme and lyrics presented below) are below:
| Give it all you got,
Take your your very best shot And may the best team win. The time is now, the name of the game is action. They're on the floor, And they're ready to score, So let the game begin, And let's see how the ball's going to bounce today Welcome to N-B-A Come on, and join the roar of the crowd" Here's another classic about, To come your way... You'll see the best in basketball When you watch the N-B-A, When you watch the N-B-A on C-B-S. (N-B-A on C-B-S, N-B-A on C-B-S, ... etc. fading out) |
Starting in 1977, CBS used an alternate opening showing a montage of still pictures of current NBA star athletes with music (similar to the music used by the network for its CBS' NFL coverage at that time) accompanying it. In 1980, CBS used rotoscoped animation in silouette of one player shooting a jumpshot and the ball in mid air rolling all the NBA teams as it spun in the air, with disco-pop-moog music behind it.
By the 1983 NBA Finals, the opening sequence was set in a primitive computer-generated montage of basketball action inside a virtual arena that looked similar to the Boston Garden. This opening sequence (which was usually interwined by a montage of live basketball action complete with narration) was created by Bill Feigenbaum. This opening melody (mostly consisting of an uptempo series of four notes and three bars each) from 1983-1988 is generally considered to be the most familiar theme music that The NBA on CBS used.
For the 1989 NBA Finals, CBS completely revamped the opening montage. The computer-generated imagery (once again set in and around a virtual arena) was made to look more realistic (live-action footage was incorporated in the backdrops). Also, the familiar theme music was rearranged to sound more intricate and to have a more emotional impact, along the lines of the network's later World Series coverage.
CBS would also create special intros during the NBA Finals comprised of music from either Terms of Endearment or St. Elmo's Fire playing in the background.
[edit] Roundball Rock
Roundball Rock is the theme music NBC used for its game telecasts from 1990 to 2002. The theme became synonymous with NBA basketball, especially since it was used at the height of the Michael Jordan era (and, by the same token, the height of the NBA's popularity). Written by John Tesh, Roundball Rock went through several slight variations (including two different versions used in 2001 for going into commercial breaks, and a separate rendition for NBC's WNBA telecasts) but remained virtually the same for all twelve years of its existence.
The theme was sampled by Nelly in his song "Heart of a Champion" and was used in both an NBA on NBC video game and the movie Like Mike. Both Conan O'Brien and Craig Kilborn paid comedic tributes to the theme when The NBA on NBC ended, and John Tesh was asked about the theme by O'Brien when he appeared on his show in late 2004. During that same episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the theme was played over footage of the recent and infamous Pacers-Pistons brawl.
[edit] ABC Sports
Unlike predecessors CBS and NBC, or competitor TNT, ABC and ESPN use a heavy amount of hip-hop and heavy metal music during pregame montages. In its first season televising the NBA, ABC used some music which contained expletives, censoring the words for audiences (for instance, the January 4, 2003 telecast between the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers, in which ABC used the Ludacris song Move Bitch and censored expletives by using the sound of dogs barking). For their February 23, 2003 telecast featuring the Dallas Mavericks and the Washington Wizards, ABC used the Nas song Made You Look, which makes several veiled references to gun usage. Since 2002-03, ABC has significantly toned down music that may be considered inappropriate, using tamer hip-hop fare such as Lets Get it Started more recently.
ABC's current NBA game theme is called Fast Break, by Non-Stop Music. It is the third game theme the network has had, dating back to 2002-03. The theme is now also used on ESPN NBA coverage.
ABC's earlier coverage of NBA basketball, ending with the 1972-1973 season, was presented with an opening theme song with lyrics. Included in those lyrics were the lines,
| You've got to take timeout, get into the action, while you're relaxing at home. Sit back and do something nice for yourself, sharing the feeling with somebody else .... |
In some versions, the song was played as the backdrop to a montage of coaches and players, include one shot of then-Boston Celtics' coach Tom Heinsohn stomping along the sideline in disgust while wearing a multicolored sportcoat.
[edit] 2002-2003
In its inaugural season of NBA coverage, ABC hired Robert Randolph and the Family Band to create its theme song. The network built its slogan around the song We Got Hoops and used it as game music for the Christmas Day 2002 and January 4, 2003 telecasts. Beginning with a February 16, 2003 doubleheader, ABC dropped the theme (with the exception of marketing and commercials) and replaced it with a more traditional sports theme song, now used for ESPN's NBA coverage.
During the 2003 NBA Finals, ABC employed LL Cool J to sing a rap song prior to each edition of NBA Shootaround. The song, which had the refrain of "Spurs-Nets goin' to war", aired before each of the six pregame shows.
[edit] 2003-2004
For 2003-04, ABC dropped their new theme, leaving it to ESPN, and replaced it with a song written specially for the network by Justin Timberlake. Can't Get Enough premiered as the NBA on ABC theme song on Christmas Day 2003, with several commercials in the weeks leading up to the game featuring Timberlake himself. On the Christmas Day telecast, Timberlake was featured in the network's introductory montage. Footage of him was removed from the intro for all subsequent telecasts. Unlike previous televised sports, ABC used the instrumental from Can't Get Enough as its theme for most of the season. As the season went on, Can't Get Enough was gradually phased out.
For the 2004 NBA Playoffs, ABC and ESPN both used the song Let's Get It Started by the Black Eyed Peas prominently in television commercials. During the time between the NBA Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, a period when ABC did not air an NBA game for two weeks, the network used a long version of the song during several Stanley Cup Finals games to promote the upcoming NBA Finals. For the Finals, ABC used Let's Get It Started as its theme music.
[edit] 2004-2005
In the lead-up to the heavily hyped Los Angeles Lakers-Miami Heat game on Christmas Day 2004, ABC used a modified version of the Jackson 5's ABC in their advertisements. For the game itself, ABC used the Destiny's Child song Lose My Breath as the music for their introductory montage. The network then proceeded to use that song for every regular season game the rest of the season. Starting on May 14, 2005, prior to a Saturday night playoff telecast between the Washington Wizards and Miami Heat, ABC began using Rob Thomas's song This is How a Heart Breaks as the music for the opening montage. They aired the song prior to every telecast the rest of the way, including Game 7 of the Finals. ABC used a multitude of popular music prior to the start of the second half of games, in the McDonalds Halftime Highlights segment.
[edit] 2005-2006
For the 2006 NBA Playoffs and Finals, ABC used music from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for its pregame montages. Though Runnin' Down a Dream was the main song used, ABC also played Makin' Some Noise, I Won't Back Down and You Wreck Me, among others. Unlike 2005, Petty's theme was not played during the introductions for the NBA Finals. Instead, ABC opted to air a montage of historical NBA Finals moments. It also featured Bad Day by Danial Powter, during the playoffs and features it whenever the team loses.
[edit] Turner Sports
TNT's NBA theme music, composed by Trevor Rabin, has been the same for the past four years (since the start of the 2002-03 NBA season), the longest of the league's three broadcast partners. In 2006, TNT used the Fort Minor Remember the Name as secondary music for its playoff coverage. In the late 1990s, TNT used a swing band to sing its theme (with the refrain of "It's the NBA on TNT tonight...") for promotional advertisements. Sister station TBS used Run-DMC to sing and create its theme during the early part of the 2000s.
[edit] League promotions
The NBA has used several artists in their own league-produced promotions. In the decade, the league has used P!nk's song "Get the Party Started", Christina Aguleria's song "Fighter", the Baha Men's song "Move It Like This" and Paul Simon's song "Father and Daughter" among others.
[edit] External links
- NBA's Hip-Hop Identity Crisis: Too Ghetto?
- More on the NBA hip-hop ban
- Nowitzki's secret? Singing Hasselhoff
