How 76ers Coach Doc Rivers Helped Raise The Profile Of Gospel Singer Tasha Cobbs Leonard

Tasha Cobbs Leonard was about to perform at the MGM National Harbor in suburban Washington, D.C. on Sunday night when a friend reached out to her. She was told her name was trending on social media.

Cobbs Leonard is a popular gospel singer with multiple Grammy Awards and more than 319,000 Twitter followers and 2.3 million Instagram followers. But her recent time in the spotlight was due to Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers.

After Sunday’s overtime victory over the Boston Celtics, Rivers said during his news conference that he had texted one of Cobbs Leonard’s songs, “You Know My Name,” to guard James Harden before the game. It was the first time Rivers had sent a song to Harden, and it apparently inspired the mercurial player. Harden scored a game-high 42 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer, as the 76ers evened the series at two games apiece.

Harden played the eight-minute song on his way to the Wells Fargo Center.

“And I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ve gotta do something. I’ve got good ju ju with this song. However he’s feeling, I want to feel like that,’” Harden said. “I guess it works.”

After Sunday’s concert, which was part of her two-month tour, Cobbs Leonard called her husband, producer Kenneth Leonard, and asked about all the online buzz.

“I was like, ‘OK, I need you to fill me in on what’s going on. Is this a big, big deal?,’” she said in an interview on Wednesday. “He was like, ‘This is a big, big deal.’”

Since coming off the stage on Sunday night, Cobbs Leonard has been bombarded with messages.

“I was super surprised but grateful and honored,” Cobbs Leonard said. “I really appreciate the fact that my music is something that Doc listens to and that it inspires him. That was encouraging.”

Cobbs Leonard is a casual NBA fan, but she had heard about Rivers and Harden before Sunday. She was a small forward on the varsity basketball team for four years at Wayne County High School in her hometown of Jesup, Ga., about 45 minutes from Savannah. She was always around music, too, as everyone on her mother’s side of the family sang while her father’s side played instruments.

As a child, she was primarily a backup singer until age 15 when she was forced to sing in a community choir because the person who was supposed to be the lead singer was involved in a car accident.

“I sang the entire song with my eyes closed,” Cobbs Leonard said. “And when I opened my eyes just like now, people were crying, hands were lifted, lives were changed. And so at that moment, my parents and I knew that there was just something special and different about my gift.”

Cobbs Leonard, who is now 41, moved to Atlanta in 2006 to become a worship pastor at a church. In 2013, she released her first album, “Grace,” which won the Grammy for best gospel album.

“After that, my career just kind of took off,” she said.

Four years later, Cobbs Leonard released another album, “Heart. Passion. Pursuit.,” which became her most popular and featured “You Know My Name,” the song that inspired Rivers and Harden.

Cobbs Leonard was performing at Boston’s Wang Theatre on Tuesday at the same time that the 76ers defeated the Celtics at TD Garden to take a three games to two lead. If the 76ers win on Thursday or Sunday, they will advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2001. And Cobbs Leonard will have played a small role in that.

Cobbs Leonard said it too soon to tell how many people had downloaded “You Know My Name” since Sunday, but she expects to hear about that within the next week. Regardless, she’s proud she could be part of the NBA playoffs conversation

“It’s an honor and it’s super humbling actually that my song could provide inspiration and motivation for the players involved and for everybody involved,” she said.