NBA fans react to Kristin Chenoweth's Broadway-style national anthem
Kristin Chenoweth may be Broadway royalty, but NBA fans were less than enchanted by her national anthem performance.
The Oklahoma-born singer and Tony Award winner performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals between the Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, June 22. Dressed in an Oklahoma City Thunder graphic T-shirt and silver embellished boots, the "Wicked" star sang in her distinctive musical theater tone. Toward the end of the anthem, Chenoweth, 56, held a long, opera-style high note to applause before concluding her rendition.
Many viewers at home weren't quite sold on the showtune flair.
"This is the worst National Anthem I ever heard," one user wrote.
"They got a opera singer doing the national anthem I'm done," another wrote.
"Listening to the national anthem at that part," one user captioned a gif of NeNe Leakes seeming visibly taken aback.
"They shoulda invited that girl who sang the national anthem in Spanish to sing there," one fan chimed in, referring to R&B singer Nezza's recent performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Spanish at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game.
Though everyone didn't share Chenoweth's love for musical theater, her Oklahoma City Thunder still pulled off a win to take home the city's first title, defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91.
'Up there with fergie': Other infamous national anthems
One user in their criticism called back to one infamous rendition of the national anthem, adding, "this national anthem up there with fergie."
Fergie's 2018 performance at the NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles drew much criticism at the time, leading the singer to explain to TMZ at the time, "I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended tone. I love this country and honestly tried my best."
Other recent notorious interpretations include country music singer Ingrid Andress, who performed the national anthem "drunk" at the MLB Home Run Derby in 2024, and Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav's version at a Milwaukee Bucks game in 2023.