The NBA playoffs are in full swing with the Boston Celtics the favourites in the current odds to lift the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in June. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with sitting down on your sofa and enjoying the on-court action from the comfort of your own home, nothing quite measures up to the experience of attending a game in person.

Europe

The noise of the crowd, the high-pitched sound of sneakers on the court and the smell of hot dogs are quintessential to an evening watching your favourite basketball team live. Another iconic element of an NBA game is the music played inside the arena.

In this article we take a look at some of the best arena anthems of all-time that not only help to get the crowd involved in the game but add to the drama of the spectacle too.

Sirius – The Alan Parsons Project

For some the name of this band will forever be synonymous with Dr. Evil’s giant laser, but for the rest of us it’s the name of a progressive rock band from 1982… Okay, now we’ve got that rather dated reference out of our systems on to the basketball anthem.

Ahead of tip-off at a Chicago Bulls game, the iconic song Sirius is played out to get the players and funs pumped. The anthem was made legendary as it became synonymous with Phil Jackson’s Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan during the 1990s.

Whilst fans of the Bulls might not have had such a good since then, this song is still guaranteed to send shivers down the spines of fans.

The Final Countdown – Europe

Considering its size, Sweden has been responsible for an awful lot of legendary music including this incredible song from the 1982 winners of the Swedish Rock Championships, Europe. Their 1986 hit song ‘The Final Countdown’ reached Number One in 15 countries, but performed surprisingly poorly here.

Despite that, the song is now synonymous with every major American sport, being played usually towards the latter stages of games when the chips are down and the pressure is on. It’s the perfect song to get fans and players going in the closing stages of games.

Space Jam – Quad City DJ’s

The 1996 film Space Jam isn’t just everyone’s favourite sports film, it’s almost everyone’s favourite childhood movie. This song by the Quad City DJ’s is played out across the majority of basketball arenas ahead of tip off and is guaranteed to get people in the mood to cheer on their team.

For fans of nostalgia, it’s also guaranteed to get you reminiscing about Mr Swackhammer, Marvin the Martian and the Air Jordan 11 ‘Space Jam’ sneakers.

Power – Kanye West

“I miss the old Kanye, straight from the Go Kanye” jokingly rapped superstar Kanye West on his 2016 record ‘I Love Kanye’. What was a joke to him at the time and a thinly barbed hit back at critics is now a reality for 99.9% of sane thinking people.

In recent years the quality of Kanye’s music has hit an all-time low whilst the offence caused by his extreme political views and anti-Semitism has skyrocketed. So yes, we do miss the old Kanye, the great rapper who didn’t harbour extreme political views.

Fortunately we can still enjoy the old Kanye, and many basketball fans do as his classic song Power is played out at basketball arenas up and down the country every week.

Lose Yourself – Eminem

Are you even human if you haven’t blasted this song through your headphones in the gym whilst imagining yourself as the main character? In terms of getting you pumped, there really is no song quite as effective as ‘Lose Yourself’.

Released in 2002 this song was the theme to the movie about Eminem’s early life 8 Mile. Ever since it has been used in marketing campaigns for sports apparel, as a motivational tool for professional and amateur athletes alike and to get the crowd bouncing before big basketball clashes.