Tasha Cobbs Leonard is a Grammy award-winning gospel singer, and she may have saved the Philadelphia 76ers season with one of her hit songs. The 76ers were on the verge of going down 3-1 in the series with the Boston Celtics when James Harden hit a clutch shot to seal the win for the team and tie the series 2-2.
After the game, Harden shared that head coach Doc Rivers sent him a song before the game, which was “You Know My Name” by Leonard. Rivers explained that he sent the song to remind Harden of his identity and ability. “It’s got to be some kind of good juju in this song,“ Harden said after listening to the full seven-minute track. “I guess it worked.”
"It's a 7-minute song, but I let the whole song play… however he was feeling, I wanna feel like that!"
James Harden says Doc Rivers sent him the gospel song You Know My Name by Tasha Cobbs Leonard after struggling the last 2 games 😅
(via @JClarkNBCS)pic.twitter.com/NbbQ6Rfsbf
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 7, 2023
Leonard spoke with rolling out about when she heard about the viral moment, her tour and what it all means to her.
What were you doing when you heard about the viral moment?
I was walking on stage. The night before we were in Philadelphia. We had driven to Washington D.C. because that’s where my next show was. I still had my phone in my hand as the intro was playing on the stage, and I was literally preparing to walk on. I got a text message from James Fortune saying that Doc Rivers sent your song to James Harden and he’s listening to it before the game. He said he listened to all seven minutes and I didn’t even think how major it was because I was already preparing to walk out on the stage.
By the time I could get back off the stage after the three-hour show it was everywhere. He had done press about it, he was talking about the song, and I realized that it was a major moment for people to be inspired, encouraged, and to experience that moment with God.
What do you hope “You Know My Name” does for other listeners?
That song is on the album Heart. Passion. Pursuit. The mission and vision of that album was to go beyond borders and build a bridge for people from different walks of life and different cultures. It went to different nations.
That album is spread far and beyond the four walls of the church, so for it to be a song off of that album it just so aligned with the mission for that one particular album. [I hoped] it would go beyond the four walls of the church and create a space for people of all walks of life to have an encounter with God.
It was humbling and it was another example of God’s will towards me that he would allow me to carry that type of assignment where people can feel safe listening to the songs with no pressure whatsoever, but just to have a moment with God. I feel humbled that God still uses me because he doesn’t have to.
