In New York City, where the pulse of the streets mirrors the heartbeat of its people, Doug Berns found a unique way to blend his two great loves: music and basketball.
His viral postgame parody songs, crafted after every Knicks game and posted across social media, have become a beloved tradition among fans. They mix humor, clever writing, and extensive musical craftsmanship.
Berns, 36, was born and raised in Manhattan and now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and kids. An audio producer and professional musician by day and a die-hard basketball fan at night, his love for the Knicks and music started early.
“I’ve been a Knicks fan since I was five years old, and I’ve been playing bass very intensely since I was 12,” he told amNewYork.
Before his Knicks songs caught fire, Berns navigated the city’s music scene working as a musician for hire alongside his day jobs. When the city shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, Berns used the time in lockdown to learn audio engineering and expand his skill set.
“It was around that time that, you know, sadly, we weren’t able [play any live shows], and it was really painful for my soul,” Berns said.
“I hadn’t developed any sort of content creation skills outside of a little bit of making beats and stuff on [music production software Logic Pro], my computer. So in that moment, I said, ‘You know what? How can I express myself and feel like I’m expressing myself out towards people that might see this stuff?’ ”
From there, Berns leaned into what he defined as “random instrument content,” ranging from a tapping bass remake of the X-Men Animated series theme song to a cover of Tevin Campbell’s Can We Talk?
When gigs inevitably picked back up as COVID restrictions lifted, he wanted to do something creatively different for himself.
Enter the Knicks.
“I had a conversation with a friend [who’s a producer and writer] in [October 2024] basically, when the [NBA] season was just getting underway,” Berns recalled. “After this conversation, I came away with this idea that I should come up with some concept of my own music, where I create basically the entire vibe myself.”
These early ideas laid the groundwork for his now-iconic moniker: Knicks Metal Recaps Guy.
“I just had this idea to see if I could write a metal riff after every game, just to summarize what happened in the game, that would combine my knowledge of the game and then help me work on my musicianship and my production songwriting.”
Berns posted his first recap on Nov. 13 after the Knicks beat the Philadelphia 76ers. The project soon evolved into parodies of popular songs, something he says was the turning point.
“I got off to a fine start doing it, but at some point along the way, I started making them into parodies of songs that people knew, and that was when Knicks fans started really connecting with the entire vibe of the project,” he said.
“I got on such a momentum with this project that I haven’t missed the game since the first time I did it.”
Since then, Berns has become a favorite among Knicks fan circles, gaining 11,000 followers on Instagram and close to 5,000 on X.
One of his standout parodies was a rendition of Mark Morrison’s smash hit Return of the Mack that earned over 130,000 views after the Knicks beat the Memphis Grizzlies on February 28th.
What began as a passion project has become a nightly ritual with Knicks fans.
“It’s my favorite part about doing this, because I have people that will ask me, ‘When’s it coming up? When are you going to post?’ They’ll guess what the song is going to be. They’ll send me suggestions, and that’s special to me. It’s like, now we have another way of having community together.”
That sense of community grew even larger when legendary filmmaker and avid Knicks fan Spike Lee commented on one of his videos.
“The day that I saw notification on my Instagram that he commented, I almost dropped the glass of water that I was holding,” Berns said.
“He’s New York, he’s art, he’s music, he’s culture, he’s everything that I aspire to be. So to hear from him was just totally cool.” Lee would later invite him to his office and gift a pair of autographed Jordan 1 sneakers, a token of appreciation.
Berns’ reach expanded even more when Knicks stars Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart featured one of his songs on their Roommates Show podcast, further cementing his work as a pillar of the fandom.
Berns remains cautiously optimistic as the Knicks start their playoff campaign against the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
“I have extreme confidence we’ll get out of the first round. It’s just a matter of committing to defense and for [Tom Thibodeau] to be very flexible and adaptive.”
For Berns, what started as a creative outlet has become the nightly soundtrack to the Knicks’ season, reflecting the city itself. His songs are part fan commentary, part musical tribute, and ultimately entirely New York.
