A history of celebrity fan misbehavior at NBA games

Sharpe started trash-talking the Grizzlies' Dillon Brooks from his courtside seat Friday night, and the ruckus expanded to include Ja Morant, Steven Adams, and Ja's dad, Tee Morant before security intervened.

Monday, Sharpe issued a mea culpa, saying, "Shannon Sharpe should have been mentioned as someone who was at the game, not someone that let his emotions run hot and get out of hand during the game." But he'll always be remembered for this moment, just like these other celebrities.

Spike Lee

Lee loved to heckle opposing players, none more so than Reggie Miller of the Indiana Pacers. During the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals, he started yelling at Miller, who proceeded to score 25 points in the 4th quarter, while giving Lee the choke sign. Lee would have been a pariah had the Knicks come back from being down 3-2 to win the series.

Jimmy Buffett

Buffett was wasting away in his seat on the baseline when a referee's call aggravated him. Buffett started yelling, and official Joe Forte ejected the singer from his seat. “There was a little boy sitting next to him and a lady sitting by him," Forte told reporters. "He used some words he knows he shouldn’t have used, so I asked security to move him to another location."

The "Parrothead" didn't have to leave; he was simply directed to a different seat out of earshot of the referees, though Heat coach Pat Riley insisted, "I didn't think it was that bad."

Calvin Klein

It wasn't clear what designer Calvin Klein was doing when he tried to engage Latrell Sprewell in conversation during a Knicks game in 2003 - while he was inbounding the ball. Security eventually took Klein back to his seat, after the strange commotion delayed the game. Even after the incident, Klein was yelling "Sprewell!" from his seat, apparently ready to chat more. Then he tried to storm the court and celebrate with Spree and the Knicks after the game.

“I was a little surprised,” Sprewell told the NY Post. "I had no idea [that it was Klein]. I was wondering if security was going to come over at some point.” Sprewell didn't share what Klein said to him, choosing to keep it between him and his Calvins.

Drake

Aubrey Drake Graham is a "global ambassador" and a constant presence courtside at Toronto Raptors games, where he often seems to think he's a member of the coaching staff. He'll stand up from his seat and shout, ten feet away from Toronto's actual head coach. Drake has yelled at Draymond Green after a Finals game in 2019, at center/mascot Kendrick Perkins after a 2018 playoff game, and stood behind countless players trash talking them while they were trying to inbound the ball.

He'll even massage Nick Nurse during stressful situations.

Drake also once interrupted Kevin Durant's postgame interview, causing KD to exclaim, "I don't give a damn about no Drake night!"

Drake is dangerous off the court, too. He was hanging out with Spurs guard Tony Parker when Drake's nightclub brawl with Chris Brown left Parker with shards of glass in his eye. 

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Flea and Anthony Kiedis are die-hard Lakers fans, who generally behave themselves in the stands, supporting their team and never taking their shirts off. But at the Lakers' home opener against the Houston Rockets in 2018, things boiled over with Houston's Chris Paul.

Paul and Flea had a confrontation in 2014, when the bassist yelled to Paul, then on the Clippers, that La would "always be a Lakers town." Paul got in his face, and the Clippers proceeded to deliver a 48-point beatdown, at the time the worst loss in Lakers history.

The bad blood was there when Paul and Rajon Rondo had a confrontation, and Rondo spat on Paul. As Paul was being led away, Kiedis yelled and lunged at Paul, like he was trying to fight him, and security led Kiedis away, perhaps to underneath a bridge. It's not clear what Kiedis said to Paul, but based on RHCP's lyrics, it was probably something like "Doodle doodle zing a bang a dong rappa dappa zappa boo. California!" 

Flo Rida's Manager

Tensions can get high at the end of a playoff game. That's why at the end of a blowout Miami Heat win in Game Seven of the 2013 Eastern Conference Finals, it wasn't a surprise that Norris Cole of the Heat and Jeff Pendergraph had a confrontation and got ejected. It was a surprise that the referees also threw out Flo Rida's manager, Freezy. Flo Rida apparently stayed out of the fracas, but when his manager started yelling at Pendergraph, he encouraged Freezy to get low and skip the final two minutes.