Fresh off winning their first NBA championship since 1973, the New York Knicks will take over Monday’s episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, NBC announced Sunday.
The special episode, airing Monday, June 15 at 11:35 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, will feature NBA Finals MVP Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges as guests, along with appearances by the full Knicks team and head coach Mike Brown.
Fallon, a longtime Knicks fan, summed up the booking in a statement: “A booking 53 years in the making.”
The episode will also feature surprise guests and a performance by fellow New York icons Wu-Tang Clan, who will bring the hometown victory lap to the musical guest stage.
In keeping with the night’s theme, NBC says the entire Tonight Show audience will be made up of die-hard Knicks fans who were unable to attend the Finals in person, giving the show what should be one of its livelier Studio 6B crowds in recent memory.
The Knicks clinched the title Saturday night with a 94–90 Game 5 win over the San Antonio Spurs, giving New York its first NBA title since the Willis Reed/Walt Frazier era. Brunson was named Finals MVP after leading the Knicks through their championship run.
The Knicks takeover bumps the show’s previously announced June 15 lineup. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Severance star Britt Lower, Rhett & Link and comedian Zarna Garg had been scheduled for Monday’s episode; NBC says they will be rescheduled.
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