Tracy Morgan might not have been decked out in matching shirts with Taylor Swift during the NBA Finals, but he was 100% on hand to support and celebrate the New York Knicks’ wildly impressive run. The San Antonio Spurs certainly made it a challenge, but the Knicks could not be stopped, thanks in large part to Jalen Brunson, only the fourth player in NBA history to get 45 points in a close-out Finals win. And if you thought Morgan would have only calm and sensible comments to make, think again.
During the post-game festivities, speeches and press conference interviews being aired on NBA TV, Chris Haynes and John Wall sat with Morgan to get the longtime Knicks fanatic’s thoughts about the team winning its first championship in 53 years. And it started off well enough. When asked to describe his feelings watching the team from start to finish, Morgan half-interrupted the question with:
One word will describe it: 'Boom!' That's all it is. You don't feel nothing. It's instant. It's 'Boom!'
When asked a few seconds later where the "Boom" came from in this situation, after 53 years without a championship, Tracy Morgan amusingly pointed to the players for that answer, saying:
You would have to ask the team. I don't play basketball. I do jokes. But I know I'm part of the family. I mean, New York fans have to be studied and observed different.
However, the interview that's currently housed on NBA TV's YouTube page has been edited to remove the part of the interview where the SNL vet delivered a signature NSFW Tracy Morgan answer that invoked some of the larger-than-life cinematic horrors that New York City has faced. As he put it:
We got the killer instincts. I know Jordan had that, and I know Kobe had that. We don't play. New York City. That's where King Kong died. We told Godzilla, 'You next, motherf---er.' You, the three-headed monster, the flying turtle - all y'all can get it. This is New York City. This is where they took the gun and left the cannoli.
I mean, if you're looking for a good way to express the strength of a city, it doesn't hurt to have "Killed King Kong" on that list. Granted, he was more of a mistunderstood creature than a fully malicious monster, but that's splitting ape hairs.
The fact that he then referenced kaiju mainstays Godzilla, Ghidorah and Gamera was amazing. Not just that he called them out, but that he told them they'd get squashed by the power of New York City. And then what'd be the next logical reference to make after giant Japanese monsters? The Godfather, naturally.
Not that Morgan was done. He still had another classic NYC movie franchise to bring up, while acknowledging that his MF-er comment would need to be censored for TV audiences. He continued:
- TRACY MORGAN: Bleep it out, I don't care. They had The Alien, but we had the Ghostbusters. There's something strange in the neighborhood.
- CHRIS HAYNES: Who you gonna call?
- TRACY MORGAN: Jalen Brunson! He look like he could change a pipe under my sink.
I'm not sure that I consider Alien to be 1-to-1 analagous to the Ghostbusters movies, but I can at least respect him trying to spin Victor Wembanyama's nickname into his reference-heavy comments. I'm a little more confused about why he wants Jalen Brunson changing a pipe under his sink, but that could just be me. Did his nickname switch from "Captain Clutch" to "Captain Clog" when I wasn't paying attention?
Remember when Tracy Morgan threw up on the floor of Madison Square Garden during a Knicks game? At least that didn't need to happen again in order for his home team to bring the trophy home. And now Timothee Chalamet can avoid some of the stress of being a Knicks fan, at least until next season.
For anyone who wants to see Tracy Morgan invested in other amusing sports shenanigans, his latest NBC comedy from 30 Rock co-creator Robert Carlock The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins is hilarious from start to finish, and can be streamed in full via Peacock subscription.
