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Trail Blazers Bring Back Anthem Singer From 2003 for Redemption Performance

A very cool full-circle moment in Portland.

Liam McKeone

Natalie Zito and Mo Cheeks reunited on Wednesday
Natalie Zito and Mo Cheeks reunited on Wednesday / NBA on
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Fans in attendance for Wednesday evening's Portland Trail Blazers-New York Knicks game were treated to one of the coolest moments of the NBA season, for reasons that had nothing to do with basketball.

Let's set the scene. Back in 2003, the Blazers were playing the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference playoffs. Ahead of Game 3 in Portland, the team invited 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert to sing the national anthem. The young singer stumbled over her words under the bright lights of the playoffs, at which point then-Blazers head coach Mo Cheeks stepped in and helped lead her through the anthem with a kind hand on her shoulder. It was a heartfelt moment and one of the earliest "viral" NBA moments.

On Wednesday, Cheeks returned to Portland as an assistant coach for the Knicks. The Blazers decided to invite the now-Natalie Zito back to sing the anthem.

It was a heartening scene, and Cheeks was beaming the whole time. It is also important to note that Zito absolutely nailed it this time around.

What a sweet moment for everybody involved.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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