Meek Mill choppered to arena after prison release rings bell as Sixers win

Newly freed rapper Meek Mill, little more than one hour after his release from incarceration on a decade-old drug and guns conviction, rung the ceremonial bell amid a thunderous hometown ovation before the start of the Philadelphia 76ers' series-clinching win over the Miami Heat in Philadelphia.

Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin posted a picture of himself with Mill on Instagram Tuesday night with the caption 'On the way to the sixers game let's go'.

The Philadelphia-born artist, whose given name is Robert Rihmeek Williams, was freed from the state prison at Camp Hill shortly before 7pm and took off in a helicopter from the facility outside the city.

They came and got Meek Mill in a helicopter '''#MeekFree pic.twitter.com/URKbgTkAjQ

He visited privately with the Sixers in their locker room before emerging from the tunnel to rapturous applause shortly after 8pm at the sold-out 20,478-seat Wells Fargo Center for the ceremonial pre-game ringing of a Liberty Bell replica, a newer tradition in south Philadelphia reserved for local luminaries that's been embraced during the team's rapid ' and long-anticipated ' ascent from the NBA cellar.

They used to pray for times like this, indeed.

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