A championship team’s glory doesn’t end with winning the NBA Finals. They also get the privilege of kicking off the new season where they left off. This acts as a significant jumpstart over other franchises. The league allows the defending champions to host a special ceremony before their season opener, where they distribute rings in front of their home fans and raise the championship banner to the rafters, all set to an iconic song in the background. A song that keeps LeBron James‘ fire inside him burning.

Imagine the Chicago Bulls from the Michael Jordan era. The team had two three-peats, and the franchise did an ultimate fan service by raising the banner six times in the same decade while ‘that’ iconic song blared in the background. Okay, I understand, there’s no holding back now. It’s the evergreen 1977 song “We Are the Champions” composed by the Queen.

For someone, who watched the 2018 film, Bohemian Rhapsody, would understand the significance behind the making of the song. Academy Award-winning actor Rami Malek essayed the role of the legendary singer, Freddie Mercury, who was the lead voice behind the song. Nevertheless, it’s a personal suggestion to watch the film before cheering for your favorite franchise when they raise their banner next time. Maybe, the Celtics fans can catch up with the movie before the season opener. Moreover, there’s an interesting NBA trivia behind this song. Let’s find out about it.

The iconic 1977 Queen’s song that inspires LeBron James

Every single King James fan knows the importance of music in the superstar’s life. The superstar himself revealed it several times in the interviews. Forget about the interviews, James can be seen entering and leaving the arena, engrossed in his music world. Importantly, he held a poker face and listened to music on his wired earphones before chasing down the Warriors’ 3-1 lead in the 2016 Finals.

So there could be multiple songs that could keep the 4x NBA Champ going. But, this Queen’s song inspires the superstar to draw blood. In the recently released Netflix sports docuseries, Starting 5, James spoke about the song in a separate segment. When the Lakers geared for the 2023 season opener against the Denver Nuggets in Ball Arena, the then-defending champions had their ring ceremony. At that time, the arena blared, the “We Are the Champions” song when the Lakers were in the tunnel.

At the time, when a Lakers teammate went ahead to close to door to cut out the sound, King James stopped him and said, “You keep it open. I don’t mind hearing this shit. It’s good. It’s motivation.” Following that, he added, ” That song is so iconic. I mean, “We Are the Champions.”I’ve been there four times to the mountaintop. I’ve heard that song four times in the NBA. And, uh, you know, I would love to hear to hear it again.” So, it’s an indication for the Lakers Nation that they can gear up to listen to the iconic song at the Crypto.com Arena in a few months.  

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.