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Jimmy Fallon's Basketball Song Roasts the Portland Trail Blazers' NBA Logo
"It's Picasso's version of a hurricane—it's Ed Sheeran going down a drain," Fallon rapped on The Tonight Show to kick off the 2023 NBA season.
The 2023 NBA season kicked off on Wednesday, October 24, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon marked the occasion with some spot-on sports analysis. Or more accurately, some analysis of certain NBA team logos by way of Jimmy Fallon's basketball song.
The extremely silly rap started out simple enough, as Fallon called out a few of the 30 NBA team's logos, starting with the home team.
"The New York Knicks have a basketball, the Toronto Raptors have a basketball, the Miami Heat have a basketball, and the Phoenix Suns have a basketball," Fallon began. He shuffled through the Pacers, Nets, and the Magic—all of which feature a basketball in their logo—and stopped short when the Portland Trail Blazers' red-and-white logo flashed onscreen.
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"And the Portland Trail Blazers have a...okay, let's move on," Fallon stammered.
Jimmy Fallon's rap pokes fun at the Portland Trail Blazers logo
After rattling off a few more teams who've worked the basketball into their iconography, Fallon had to circle back to the Portland Trail Blazers' somewhat cryptic logo. "Oh jeez, not this again," he said. When it resurfaced, Fallon went in.
"Oh God, okay—you know, let's just figure this out," Fallon said, before turning the song into a diss track.
The Tonight Show basketball song's Portland Trail Blazers verse
It's a real bad drawing of a candy cane / It's a comma and apostrophe doin' a thing
It's Picasso's version of a hurricane / it's Ed Sheeran going down the drain
It's Donald Trump's hair with a chicken's wing / It's a 69 don't wanna be profane
Man, I don't know what it is at all / All I know is, it ain't basketball
Hey Tariq, let me ask you, what is this thing? Do you have a clue?
Tariq of The Roots:
Well it's weird and it's round / and it's red and it's white
Kinda looks like a cookie / I'm gonna take a bite! [eats cookie]
What is the Portland Trail Blazers logo supposed to be, really?
The current Portland Trail Blazers logo was first revealed in 2017. According to NBC Sports, it's a pinwheel design that holds a special meaning.
The 10 lines in the logo "represent the game of basketball: two teams of five players, coming together at center court in competition," a press release from the team [via NBC Sports] explained at the time.
"The movement and symmetry of the lines reflect the mechanics and fluidity of the game," the press release continued, adding that each line leads to the center of the pinwheel to emphasize teamwork.
Further, "the angle of the lines are now at exactly 45 degrees representing the 45th Parallel North that leads on a path to the Northwest region, our community and our hometown." The more you know!
