In July 2010, newly unrestricted free agent Lebron James was being wooed by nearly half the NBA, including the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, and yes, the New York Knicks. And in an attempt to convince the superstar MVP to come to Madison Square Garden, the Knicks pulled out all the stops in a star-studded pitch video that was unearthed this week.
The video was obtained by the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast, which aired clips from the relic on Tuesday's new episode. Host Torre, who explained that he found the 10-minute video "at the bottom of a rabbit hole," describes it as "prestige television fan fiction" as it features The Sopranos stars James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, reprising their iconic roles as Tony and Carmella Soprano.
And the video very much seems to suggest that the family patriarch survived after the screen cut to black in the controversial series finale of the popular HBO crime drama three years before.
Setting the scene, a title card reads: “Two Years Later (Somewhere in New York)" and opens with Tony reading the June 17, 2010 edition of the New York Post. "Yeah, life’s good here Carm, even if we are in the witness protection program," he tells Falco.
"Now we’ve just got to find a place for your friend LeBron to live," Carmella interjects, asking what he's like. After Tony describes James as a "modern guy [who] respects tradition," Carm suggests "something classy on the east side."
Following some back and forth, Carmella suggests a place, but noes that it "gets really loud there," pulling up a photo of Madison Square Garden during a Knicks game. “Oh yeah. Yeah, that’s it. That’s gonna be perfect for him," Tony agrees.
EXCLUSIVE: We found the secret tape the Knicks made to recruit LeBron.
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) April 16, 2024
It's a Sopranos reunion ... and so much more.
Watch our reveal with @PabloTorre, @netw3rk and @WorldWideWob: https://t.co/DJ9erPKdji pic.twitter.com/W0QCYMV8en
The pair then break the fourth wall, staring knowingly into the camera as Jay-Z’s "Public Service Announcement" begins to play, while Torre and his guests Jason Concepcion and Rob Perez break into fits of laughter in the studio. Making things even more awkward is that James had met with Jay Z, who was part owner of the Nets at the time, directly before his pitch meeting with the Knicks.
But the cringe didn't end there. As Torre continued, that was just the beginning of the video before pivoting to a "procession" of celebrities who essentially served as a sort of "recruiting committee" made up of Madison Square Garden head James Dolan's favorite people.
From there, the video cut to former New York City resident Donald Trump, who made his pitch to James; followed by cameos including Chris Rock Robert De Niro, and Mike Bloomberg; as well as Rudy Giuliani, Harvey Weinstein, and Alec Baldwin.
But if the veritable Who's Who of canceled names in 2024 wasn't enough, the video was all for naught. Despite heavily teasing Knicks fans that he was considering New York, the 39-year-old ultimately signed with the Miami Heat, where he would go on to spend the next four seasons of his career.
You can watch clips of the rest of the video in the full podcast episode, below:
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