Real star of NBA finals
Durant’s shot silences NBA heckler RiRi
Spike Lee, eat your heart out! The NBA Finals tipped off Thursday night with a transfixing performance — not from Golden State or Cleveland — but Rihanna, who was heckling players and ticking off fans seated courtside.
“Brick!” yelled RiRi, as the Warriors’ Kevin Durant was shooting free throws in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
The singer, who’s a big fan of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James, spent a large portion of the game trash-talking Durant — spurring him to send a message to her near the end of the quarter.
Right after sinking a 3-pointer in front of RiRi to put the Warriors up 105-84, the basketball star looked in her direction and shook his head.
It was a move that set the Internet ablaze, despite being downplayed by Durant afterward.
“I don’t even remember that,” he said, after being asked if the staredown was deliberate.
“Don’t get into that trap, man,” teammate Stephen Curry said jokingly.
“Yeah, I won’t get into that,” Durant replied. “I’m cool. Have fun with that.”
At one point during the game, Rihanna made sure to make her presence known to James as she was spotted bowing to him after one of his sterling moves. She even threw in a “dab” for some fans who weren’t having it.
One of them happened to be Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue, who was caught on camera trading verbal jabs with the Grammy Award winner.
While Rihanna’s Cavs fell to the Warriors in Game 1, the R&B star remained optimistic.
“It doesn’t matter, b---h, the King was still the King,” she told reporters, speaking of James while leaving Oracle Arena.
Her courtside antics ultimately had no effect on Durant, who scored a whopping 38 points.
Her moves were reminiscent of when Lee, a Knicks superfan, famously fired up Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals by heckling him. Miller went on to score 25 points in the fourth quarter of an Indiana win.