Avery Wilson Powers Knicks’ 6-0 Run With Anthem Returns
avery wilson has become a recurring pregame figure for the Knicks in April. New York is 6-0 when he sings the national anthem, and the team kept bringing him back during its playoff run.
The pattern is unusual because the Knicks do not normally stick with the same anthem singer night after night. Wilson, an R&B singer and Broadway actor, was asked to perform before the playoff opener, then returned after the team kept winning with him in the building.
Jamaal Lesane Brings Him Back
After Wilson sang before the playoff opener in April, MSG Sports chief operating officer Jamaal Lesane invited him back. Wilson said Lesane reacted strongly to the performance: “He closed his eyes and felt emotional hearing me sing,”
Wilson could not make Game 2 because of a scheduling conflict. The Knicks lost their only home playoff game without him, a result that fit the run’s odd pattern and pushed the team to keep turning to the same voice when it could.
Wilson’s Broadway Path
Wilson’s Knicks role sits on top of a career that has moved between music and theater. He was a contestant on The Voice in seasons three and eight, appeared on the Billboard Hot R&B chart with If I Have To in 2015, returned to the charts in 2024 with Kiss The Sky, and was cast as Scarecrow in The Wiz on Broadway in 2024.
He also earned a Grammy nomination for his performance in The Wiz on Broadway. Wilson said of his move into the show, “I don't know all of the history of Broadway and all the shows, but I did frequent a couple shows a little while ago, maybe two or three years ago, and I was like, 'I want to do that,'”
Knicks Fans And The Pattern
Wilson performed again in Game 5 and before each of the Knicks’ home games against the 76ers and Cavaliers. He said, “They refer to me as a good-luck charm,” and the numbers now back up why the team kept him in the rotation whenever his schedule allowed.
The Knicks usually rotate anthem singers, so Wilson’s repeated appearances stood out during the postseason. He is from Connecticut, and while the team kept returning to him, the streak made the pregame decision feel less like a one-off and more like part of Madison Square Garden’s playoff routine.
