What a way to cap off a birthday week! One day after Rihanna turned 31, she and Hassan Jameel hit up the Staples Center to watch the Los Angeles Lakers – more specifically, her favorite player LeBron James, 34 – pull off a stunning victory! The Lakers hosted the Houston Rockets on Feb. 22, and while LeBron took on James Harden’s game, Rihanna cheered on while wearing a James #23 jersey. Rihanna — click here to see pictures of Rihanna and Hassan at the game—watched in delight as the Lakers defeated the Rockets, 111-106. This victory boosted the struggling LA team to a 29-29 record. Maybe they need to make sure Rihanna is at all of their games for the rest of the season?
She and Hassan weren’t the only stars there — Denzel Washington, French Montana, Allen Iverson, andThe Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar were also there — but she was arguably the biggest LeBron fan in the house. She’s more than just a fan, as The Undefeated detailed their friendship going all the way back to 2009. A decade ago, RiRi and LeBron grabbed lunch at “Manhattan’s Philippe Chow before heading to the grand opening of Carol’s Daughter Back Room Hand and Foot Spa, giving fans the celebrity friendship they never knew they wanted. When LeBron won his first NBA championship in 2012, Rihanna tweeted her love to him. She even referenced James in “Bitch Better Have My Money,” saying she was “Ballin’ bigger than LeBron.”
During Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals, Rihanna sat courtside to cheer on LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers. After jumping out of her seat to bow down to King James, she reportedly screamed “BRICK” at Kevin Durant while he was shooting a free-throw. The Golden State Warriors would have the last laugh, though, as they would go 4-1 over the Cavs to claim another Championship.
Though, perhaps the most impressive – and powerful — display of Rihanna’s love for LeBron came in 2015. During Game 1 of the finals – which were, once again, between the Cavs and Warriors – Warriors owner Joe Lacob wanted to watch his team up close, so he took a courtside seat to watch the action. There was just one problem: he was sitting next to Rihanna.
“She bought seats, paid a lot of money for them and she can root for whoever she wants, right? But I thought I would be a nice guy and took my two kids, who go to a lot of games and booted them down to the end of the court and moved her next to me. I said hey sit next to the owner, it is a nice thing to do,” Jacob said, per CBS Sports.
“I thought I was being friendly. She was rooting for LeBron the whole game so finally, I was getting irritated and I said ‘hey I’m the owner of the Warriors.’ She didn’t care, she just kept going. So finally I said that’s it and I moved a couple seats down.” So, if you ever questioned Rihanna’s power, her love for King James forced the owner of the opposite team to change seats. That’s ballin’ bigger than LeBron.
ncG1vNJzZmign6G5usPOqJuloZaae6S7zGhpaWlpZH1ze5FrZquhmJa7r62MpZybqp%2BjequtzJ6qZqKVp8CmxYylmGakkaCys7%2BMoJimnV2ltqR7