CC makes appearances at MSG and on NBC

Post-Series whirlwind includes Knicks-Cavs, Leno

Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com

It had been exactly 11 days since Jimmy Rollins used the "Ten@Ten" segment on The Jay Leno Show to predict that the Phillies would win the World Series over the Yankees in five games.

On Friday night, CC Sabathia made an appearance on Leno's show to set the record straight.

Two nights after wrapping up the franchise's 27th World Series championship with a 7-3 win over the Phillies in Game 6, the left-hander joined Leno via satellite.

And he was, of course, asked about Rollins' famous prediction.

"The trophy is where it belongs," Sabathia said about the Yankees' first World Series championship since 2000. "Me and Jimmy grew up together [in California], we've known each other for a long time, but the trophy is definitely back in the right place."

Sabathia joined Leno from Rockefeller Center in New York, and he also joined his teammates, a hip-hop icon and a basketball superstar at Madison Square Garden while watching the Knicks and Cavaliers tip off.

Brooklyn native Jay-Z sat with Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Joba Chamberlain and Freddy Guzman as they watched LeBron James -- a big Yankees fan -- torch the Knicks with 33 points, eight rebounds and nine assists in a 100-91 win.

James frequently acknowledged the Yankees in attendance from the court, and he clapped from the sidelines as the seven of them were introduced to a standing ovation while Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" played from the speakers after the first quarter.

Former Yankees center fielder Bernie Williams played the national anthem on his guitar before the game, which started hours after the Yankees' ticker-tape parade through Lower Manhattan was finished.

"This is what you play for," Sabathia said to Leno. "To be able to come here to New York and win a championship with the Yankees is an unbelievable feeling."

Following is a transcript of Leno's interview with Sabathia.