Exclusive: Grandmaster Flash drops bars on OG Anunoby’s heroics that helped secure Knicks’ ‘full-circle’ moment

When the New York Knicks won their first NBA title in 53 years, fans young and old and far and wide savored the moment for posterity. Some were fortunate to be young enough to experience the Knicks winning in real time. Others, unfortunately, weren’t around to see the moment. Then some stuck it out for 53 years.

One of those was 68-year-old Joseph Saddler, better known as hip hop pioneer and DJ Grandmaster Flash, from Bridgetown, Barbados, but grew up in The Bronx. Ironically, it was The Bronx that became the birthplace of hip hop.

Flash is the originator of Quick Mix Theory, according to Rachel Shaw of the Columbia Spectator. It’s a style of DJing that uses two records to create an endless loop of a song’s break that rappers would rhyme over and b-boys and b-girls would dance to. He also pioneered cutting and scratching. Flash co-founded the group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, which produced signature hits such as “The Message” and “White Lines”.

Over the last 53 years, Flash saw the names and faces change on the Knicks, but what stayed the same was the hope for a better day. A philosophy very much rooted in hip hop. Speaking of which, New York has been the epicenter of the unconditional love between basketball and rap. The journeys of Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Anthony Mason, Latrell Sprewell, and Jalen Brunson coincide with Flash, Kurtis Blow, Nas, Notorious BIG, Lil Kim, Rah Digga, LL Cool J, and Rakim.

“They’re both of them braggadocio art forms,” Flash said to ClutchPoints. “If you can ball and you’re from the streets, you get the girls, you get the spoils,  you get whatever.
It’s almost the same thing. You get that same sort of street respect.”

Throughout the entire run, there was one moment and one player that crystallized it all for Flash.

Grandmaster Flash chose OG Anunoby as his favorite.

It goes without saying that the Knicks’ chances were saved by OG Anunoby’s heroics in Game 4. With the Knicks coming off a devastating Game 3 loss to the Spurs, the pressure was on. The Studio 54/New Year’s Eve celebratory aura seemed to wane. But then, Anunoby came swooping in as Jalen Brunson went for the go-ahead three in the fourth quarter. He tipped it in, capping off a 29-point comeback, and giving the Knicks a 106-105 win.

It didn’t hurt to have Staten Island’s Wu-Tang Clan perform at halftime.

Flash equated Aunobody’s skill to that of a musician in an orchestra.

“OG was playing a couple of instruments in the orchestration,” he said. “That’s who I watched the most. What you have to understand is when Brunson’s getting ready to do what he does, we all kind of stand still. OG’s like, nope, he may miss. He immediately ran just in case. It would have been all good if Brunson had made it. We still would have won. But when OG did what he did, he went into the mess of things.”

That was enough for Flash to anoint Anunbody as his guy in the present day. But he still has enough love for the Finals MVP and anointed King of New York, Jalen Brunson, equating his talent and aesthetic with those of one of his illustrious peers.

Jalen Brunson is to the Knicks what Rakim is to Rap

As much as hip hop is known for braggadocio, you have MCs like Rakim that are the quiet geniuses. In other words, they don’t talk much off the mic, but when on the mic, there is nobody better. That enabled him and his right-hand man, Eric B., to become arguably the most iconic duo in the history of hip hop in the 1980s and beyond.

In looking at Jalen Brunson’s demeanor and skill, Flash sees those parallels.

“He talks very low,’ Flash said. “If you’re sitting next to him and you don’t say nothing, he ain’t saying nothing to you. He’s very prolific if he knows how to write. Brunson and Rakim are almost the same. They’re not sh++ poppers. They’re not braggadocious. It’s just I am who I am.  When Brunson has a ball in his hands, when Rakim has a mic in his hands, it’s like, okay.  Very dangerous, very dangerous, but very quiet.”

Jalen, OG, and the Knicks got the message in the words of Flash. The journey to the title was like a jungle sometimes, and it made many wonder how they kept from going under.

But they finally got over.

The post Exclusive: Grandmaster Flash drops bars on OG Anunoby’s heroics that helped secure Knicks’ ‘full-circle’ moment appeared first on ClutchPoints.