Darius Washington, Jr. Discusses Phish Song The Line
By Andy Kahn May 28, 2015 • 2:00 pm PDT
On Halloween 2013 Phish debuted their new original song “The Line” as part of the Wingsuit second set. At its conclusion guitarist Trey Anastasio dedicated the song to basketball player Darius Washington, Jr., incorrectly detailing an incident in an NCAA basketball game in which Washington missed critical free throws at the end of a crucial contest as the inspiration behind the new song.
Though Anastasio mistakenly attributed the incident to a Final Four game involving Michigan State University, Washington was a member of the University of Memphis basketball team when he went to the free throw line at the end of the 2005 Conference-USA tournament against Louisville, missing two of three attempts that would have helped seal a championship for his team. Memphis lost the game and Washington went on to play professionally in Europe, where he currently is on the roster of the Czech basketball league champion CEZ Nymburk team.
In the video below Washington describes learning of the Phish tune and his reaction to being the source of the song’s lyrics, watch:
And here is footage of the free throw debacle that went down in 2005 and inspired the song:
Though Anastasio mistakenly attributed the incident to a Final Four game involving Michigan State University, Washington was a member of the University of Memphis basketball team when he went to the free throw line at the end of the 2005 Conference-USA tournament against Louisville, missing two of three attempts that would have helped seal a championship for his team. Memphis lost the game and Washington went on to play professionally in Europe, where he currently is on the roster of the Czech basketball league champion CEZ Nymburk team.
In the video below Washington describes learning of the Phish tune and his reaction to being the source of the song’s lyrics, watch:
And here is footage of the free throw debacle that went down in 2005 and inspired the song:
