Singer Refuses To Apologize For Game 7 National Anthem Performance

Originally posted on The Spun | By Tzvi Machlin | Last updated Jun 24, 2025 5:45 PM ET

For Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder invited Broadway star and Oklahoma native Kristin Chenoweth to perform the national anthem. Unfortunately, the performance left a sour taste in some fans' mouths.

While she didn't make any mistakes per se, some fans were not amused by the Tony Award winner's efforts to put her own flair on The Star-Spangled Banner. Some criticized her for making the anthem "self-serving" among other things.

Though the response appeared to be positive, she addressed her performance anyway.

In an interview with The Oklahoman, Chenoweth said that she takes the song very seriously and tried to make it special for her home state of Oklahoma. She had no comment for the people who criticized her performance, let alone an apology for them.

"I always take singing that song very seriously, because of the beautiful words, the lyrics of the song. So, I just wanted to make Oklahoma proud," Chenoweth said.

"And, yeah, I guess I did want to set the tone (and) just get everybody ready to really cheer their brains out to, hopefully, win."

THUNDER UP!!! Not going to be over this night for a while ⚡️ #NBAFinals @okcthunder @NBA pic.twitter.com/2uqHJQ6JKn
— Kristin Chenoweth (@KChenoweth) June 24, 2025

As you might expect, she was thrilled when the Thunder went on to beat the Indiana Pacers to win their first NBA title since moving to Oklahoma:

"I'm an Okie. The Thunder is my favorite team. It's the very final game; we're at home; we want this championship. We've never been there. It's our turn. All of those things are going through my mind. So, that's the time to really sing it," she said.

"I thought we would win before [Game 7]. But you know what? It just made it all the more exciting, and so I found myself booking my flight, going, 'All right, Thunder, I'm coming.'"

Fans have a knack for loudly objecting to any deviation of a straight-up singing of the national anthem. Even some of the greatest performances of all-time have been referred to as "self-serving" at times.

Chenoweth got her start in music as a gospel singer and trained opera singer before going into musical theater. She's done pretty well for herself since then, winning Emmy and Tony awards for the work she's done through the years.

She'll be fine.