How the Knicks’ ‘Tonight Show’ takeover blossomed from idea to reality

NEW YORK — Jimmy Fallon was feeling ambitious.

The morning after the New York Knicks won their first NBA Finals game in 27 years, Fallon and his team gathered for a production meeting. It was, by all accounts, a regular day for “The Tonight Show” crew.

The group convened in the office of showrunner Chris Miller at NBC’s headquarters, per usual. Your average episode of “The Tonight Show” is booked weeks or months in advance, but when a major sports team wins a title, its star will join Fallon on the air within days. The conversation in Miller’s office that day was about how the show could land one of the NBA champs, either from the Knicks or the San Antonio Spurs, for a segment.

Talent department head Lori Blackman-Master sat on a couch in Miller’s office, pitching Fallon, Miller and supervising producer Sarah Connell two plans: one for if the Knicks won their first title in 53 years, and one for if the Spurs returned to glory.

“If it goes to the Spurs, I don’t wanna jinx it, but I have to say it out loud,” Blackman-Master, a New Yorker and Knicks fan, told her colleagues. “We’re thinking we’ll try to get Victor Wembanyama.”

If the Knicks won, they could go after one or two of the local stars. Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns had both been on the show before.

With the meeting about to conclude, Fallon, a Knicks diehard, got up from a swivel chair to the right of Miller’s desk. Across from both Blackman-Master and Connell, he walked toward the door and tossed out an idea.

“I think if the Knicks win, we do a full hour,” he said. “Like, let’s blow it out.”

A fully formed concept was already in Fallon’s brain. He wanted the entire Knicks team, all 18 of them, on “The Tonight Show.”

“Let’s have the entire audience be crazy Knicks fans,” he told his colleagues. “Let’s have the Knicks dancers come. Maybe we can even get Wu-Tang to come on and perform.”

Then, Fallon left, aware that pulling off such a massive endeavor on such short notice would be a first for “The Tonight Show.”

“The reaction is, ‘Well, that would be insane,’” Miller recalled in a conversation with The Athletic.

But this year’s Knicks, the team that just dominated four straight playoff series en route to a title, the one that actually did show up in full for Monday’s episode, had a way of turning fantasy into reality. And Fallon, as Connell said, “has a way of making everything seem possible.”

To book all of the Knicks and more would take determination.

Inside Miller’s office is a giant board that displays guests for each upcoming episode. The next completely blank show was three months away. To make a complete episode revolve around the Knicks, “The Tonight Show” would need to bounce celebrities and do so on a moment’s notice.

At the time Fallon exited the room, the Knicks led the NBA Finals 1-0. They could have won the series in four games. Or five. Or six. Or seven. Or they could have lost, and a call could have gone to Wembanyama’s representatives instead.

This is not the Super Bowl, which falls on a specific date. The NBA Finals could end at any time. The scramble was on.

First, messages went to the Knicks. No response. Phone calls followed. No reply. They were busy chasing a ring. Katelyn Madore, one of the show’s bookers, sent a note to the NBA, making the league aware of the goal. This would be a celebration of the Knicks, she said. It would devote the full hour to the team. The league was intrigued.

After OG Anunoby worked his magic in Game 4, soaring in from the perimeter and tipping in an unforgettable game-winner to place the Knicks one victory away from the title, Madore shot off one more message to the team, which had yet to reply.

“Wow, that was insane,” it started. She then said again that she wanted to put the idea on the Knicks’ radar. Finally, she got a response. One word: “Received.”

Then basketball history occurred. The Knicks throttled back from down 16 points to close out the Spurs in Game 5 in San Antonio. They became champions. “The Tonight Show” wanted the squad for Monday’s episode, two days after the final buzzer. And it hadn’t heard more than one word from the organization.

Madore chatted more with the NBA on Sunday morning. There was optimism but no confirmation. Madore and company spoke with Towns’ publicist, who loved the idea and felt that if they could also get Brunson, then they would be able to land everyone. The Knicks made contact with “The Tonight Show” at 2 p.m. that day, 26 hours before the episode would be recorded. Still, no official confirmation.

At 3:47 p.m. Sunday, essentially 24 hours before taping, a text message rolled in from the NBA: “They’re in. It’s happening.”

Let the chaos commence. Brunson, Towns, the rest of the players, head coach Mike Brown, the Knicks City Dancers, a guest appearance from Spike Lee — all of this was going down almost immediately.

“Normally, a show like this takes weeks, maybe months, to pull off,” Fallon told The Athletic via email. “We had under 48 hours. But that’s what we do. We’re ‘The Tonight Show.’ We’re New York. We have a responsibility.”

Writers raced to draft a Knicks-themed monologue by the end of the night. The first batch of jokes went to Fallon at 7 p.m. Sunday. Another batch went to him at 9:45 a.m. Monday.

NBC canceled all previously reserved tickets to Monday’s show. The audience, as Fallon had conceived, would be filled with Knicks diehards. The show got in touch with superfans, many of whom worked at NBC. Going to the show was free, as long as attendees maintained the proper vibe. They were encouraged to wear team gear and cheer throughout filming, to behave less like they were at a play and more like they were inside Madison Square Garden. They obliged Monday evening, including when they noticed Knicks president Leon Rose sitting among them, which led to spontaneous chants of “Thank you, Leon!”

Blackman-Master took the lead on canceling the show that was already in place, calling the reps of the actors and comedians who were supposed to appear, hoping they would rebook. They all did, except one, Lin-Manuel Miranda, a New York native and Knicks fan who seemed thrilled to get bumped.

The show offered to record his planned segment on another day, but Miranda was busy the following week. He asked if they could keep the Monday recording and run the interview at a later date. So, Monday night, after Fallon had reeled off a Knicks-filled monologue; after he had performed a jingle summing up each of New York’s finals games; after Brunson, Towns and Brown had interviewed as part of the A-block; after Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and Anunoby had joined for the next segment; after Wu-Tang Clan had united on a stage constructed in just 24 hours specifically for this show, a Broadway star meandered onto the set to chat with Fallon.

Miranda talked about the Knicks and then plugged an upcoming project.

“Now y’all don’t know this,” Miranda told the audience. “But I was supposed to be the guest tonight, and I was like, please bring the Knicks!”

After the show, Blackman-Master saw Miranda backstage. She thanked him for being so understanding about the scheduling situation.

“Are you kidding?” he responded. “Thank you for letting me tape today.”

It was a win-win. He got to meet his favorite team, and “The Tonight Show” got to put on a spectacle.

“Everyone stepped up,” Fallon said. “The writers, the producers, the talent bookers, the Knicks, the Roots, Wu-Tang — everybody stepped up and put on a great show.

“It was just electric.”