NBA Center Jarrett Allen Gets A Zelda Tribute Every Time He Scores At Home Games
Posted on January 17 2022 by Sean Gadus
Sounds effects from video games are nothing new in sports arenas. Whether it is the Mario warp pipe sound effect when a player gets walked in baseball or the coin sound effect when a player makes a free throw in basketball, staffers and musicians in stadiums have been using these beloved sounds to their advantage for years. Many of the fans going to games know these sounds, and they enjoy hearing them across the loudspeakers. These sound effects add texture to an already exciting game, and they can create tension, relief, or anticipation depending on how they are used.
Even the players themselves have been getting in on the love for video game sounds. Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, who is currently making an All-Star game push with his excellent play, is one such player. In the weekly ESPN column “Lowe’s 10 Things”, NBA analyst Zach Lowe discussed some of the finer point of Allen’s love for the Zelda series. The 6′ 11” Allen has made the Zelda “Secret” jingle his signature sound bit. Every time Jarrett Allen scores a basket at home games at Rocket Mortgage Field House, the staff plays the short audio clip. When discussing the idea behind his sound effect, Allen asserts that it took him about “10 seconds to come up with the perfect one.” This Zelda tribute actually started in Brooklyn, where Allen started his career, but it is a tradition that he has continued since he was traded to Cleveland last year.
In the YouTube highlight reel from NF CLassic featured below, you can here the sound effect at 3:06, barely audible over the roar of the crowd.
Jarrett Allen has been a pretty vocal Zelda fan on social media. In 2018, Allen posted a splendid picture of himself dressed in a Hylian Royal Crest t-shirt. According to his Twitter, Allen’s favorite game is Ocarina of Time, though Allen was born only a few months before the game originally came out in 1998. Post E3 2016, Allen had a very enthusiastic tweet about Breath of the Wild‘s big reveal, asserting that “Zelda: Breath of the Wild, is about to be one of the best in the series since OoT.” According to Zach Lowe’s article, Allen also has a collection of Zelda merchandise, including a 3D-printed Hylian shield.
Overall, Allen is having a career year in his first full season with the Cleveland Cavaliers. At 23 years old, Allen can hopefully enjoy the Zelda series (and bring attention to it) for years to come. What do you think of Allen’s Zelda tributes on the court? Let us know in the comments below!
Featured Image: Jarrett Allen
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
