It is a shame that TNT has the Eastern Conference Finals this season. I have enjoyed New Edition at halftime during the Boston Celtics vs. Philadelphia 76ers second-round matchup, and once the Miami Heat finish off the New York Knicks I do want to hear all of the Slip and Slide and Rick Ross catalogs. That being said, TNT needs to publish the playlist from this second-round series between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers, because the song selections from those games can carry a July cookout.
Game 4 of Warriors vs. Lakers had a lot to live up to after the basketball excellence that was displayed in Phoenix on Sunday. Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokić, and even Landry Shamet made shots at every angle on the protractor in Game 4.
That game was great, but it was the music from Game 4 of Warriors and Lakers that had me vibing in my apartment. For all of that basketball excellence from Sunday night, Alice Cooper and one member from Earth Wind, and Fire are not going to hit the same as the entire catalog of music stretching from the Bay Area to Los Angeles. When TNT broke out DJ Quik’s “Dollaz + Sense” in the second quarter, Twitter noticed that while Game 4 in LA was an important NBA Playoff game, it was also a party.
Even the song that the network played going back to the studio for halftime was perfect. The Warriors and Lakers were separated by only three points at the break, so the production crew came out of the commercial break with “California” by Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, E-40, and Too $hort.
The hits just kept on coming in the second half with the always pleasant and problematic “Ain’t No Fun.” “Cutie Pie,” may be a song from a group in Detroit — One Way — but the song is on the South Central soundtrack. If it’s good enough for O.G. Bobby Johnson then it was just fine to keep the vibes rolling on Monday night.
I could use the soundtrack of the most highly-anticipated series in the second round as further evidence of ESPN continuing to refuse to make a fun NBA product. The games don’t start anywhere near the scheduled time, and the studio show is a mashup of First Take and Pardon the Interruption, along with a Brinks truck of commercials and promos.
Instead of wallowing in decades-old complaints, I will search for West Coast hip-hop playlists until the 76ers and Celtics tip off on Tuesday evening. I might have even have to fire up A Thin Line Between Love and Hate on the T.V. after hearing LBC Crew’s “Beware of My Crew.”
I hope you East Coast folks were able to hang on after your bedtimes on Monday night. For those who didn’t, you missed all of the fun, from Lonnie Walker IV to Dr. Dre. Hopefully the Warriors can run off a couple of wins so the party can keep on going.