We spend a lot of time in the weeds over here. Every story is fact checked, and every art decision entails a frankly debilitating amount of exactitude. “Yeah, that looks great, but LeBron was wearing his home jersey in that game,” your loyal editor says. “Hey, no biggie, but if Jayson Tatum’s beard isn’t shaggy nobody will know we’re talking about the restart, and we don’t want to confuse the reader,” the brilliant writer notes. “Hi guys, no offense, but that’s John ‘Hot Rod’ Williams’s photo above John ‘Hot Plate’ Williams’s shot chart,” the ardent Twitter commenter points out.
And every photo request leads not just to the annals of a given team on a given day, but further, into the deep recesses of sports and pop culture lore. More often than not, these rabbit holes are private, unspectacular things. But sometimes they can shock and surprise, not unlike how the 2006-07 Golden State Warriors—led by Baron Davis and Don Nelson in full Darth Vader mode—shocked the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. While researching Zach Kram’s piece on the biggest recent playoff upsets, we came across a number of celebrity photos—a more interesting contingent, one might assume, than a pre–Splash Brothers Warriors game might have accumulated. And in a series as unpredictable as this one, you know they were having a good time watching their home-state underdogs pull the upset. So who had the best time? In the proud Ringer tradition of deep diving on celebrities at basketball games, we decided to investigate.
Snoop Dogg
Ahhh, 2007. By April of that auspicious year, Steve Jobs had announced the release of the first iPhone, a young senator named Barack Obama had announced his candidacy for the presidency, and the first-ever three-way tie had occurred on Jeopardy! Snoop Dogg was a few months away from becoming the first artist to release a track (“It’s the D.O.G.”) as a ringtone before releasing it as a single. On the night of Game 6, though, he was watching the Warriors hoop.
According to a 2019 San Francisco Gate story, “Legendary California rapper, actor, and entrepreneur Snoop Dogg is a recurring spectator at Golden State Warriors playoff games—even though he’s from Southern California and also reps the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s been seen at Warriors playoff games since at least the ‘We Believe’ era, [and] was seen hanging with Vallejo rapper E-40 at the Warriors NBA Finals Game 5 in 2017.” Here, we see him in the aforementioned “We Believe” era, kicking back courtside in fellow L.A. native Baron Davis’s Warriors jersey and a thick gold rope. (More on that later.) He doesn’t look unhappy, but he’s not exactly in his groove yet.
Good Time Level: 2.0
Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson
If you’re like me and forgot that these two were even a thing, don’t Google to find out more! It’s a sad story! To spare you the sadness, let’s go to InStyle: “The pair met on the set of the 2006 comedy You, Me and Dupree while Hudson was still married to her first husband, Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson. A month after the film opened in July, Hudson and Robinson separated, with Robinson filing for divorce that November. She and Wilson were confirmed to be dating that fall.”
They would break up shortly after this game, and reunite a couple times subsequently. But aside from one amazing appearance on TRL, this series has to be the couple’s on-camera high point.
Here they are in Game 4, looking pensive:
And here they are in Game 6, where they run the gamut from bored …
… to absolutely hyped:
Honestly, this is a pretty impressive celebrity sports-fan couple. They both look positively engaged in the game, they’re rooting for the winning team, and they’ve definitely got the star power to hold down their courtside seats. Wilson without Hudson, well, that’s another story.
Good Time Level (average): 6.1
Owen Wilson and Dennis Miller
I know what you’re thinking: If Wilson and Hudson attended games 4 and 6 together, then they must have gone to Game 3 together too, right? Not quite. Wilson was in attendance, but Game 3 was Guys Night Out, or rather, a Guys-in-Matching-White-Button-Downs Night Out with SNL alum Dennis Miller. And that pairing obviously did not score front-row treatment. I guess Wilson figured out he could secure the floor seats by bringing in the real firepower. Anyway, Owen and D-Mill didn’t look like they were having that much fun to begin with.
Good Time Level: 3.8
Snoop Dogg
At this point in Game 6, Snoop has been joined courtside by some adorable children of Bay Area Rich Folk. Note that the young man in the slick Stephen Jackson jersey has inherited Snoop’s chain, and knows how to pose with it. Overall a fun, if slightly forced, moment.
Good Time Level: 4.9
Michael Rapaport
Nah.
Good Time Level: 3.4
Snoop Dogg
Now Snoop has the look of a man who has, um, gotten a little more comfortable as the evening has progressed. Also, notice that Snoop seems to have taken possession of a game ball, and that the chain has a temporary new owner.
Good Time Level (Snoop): 6.4
Good Time Level (The Kid With Snoop’s Chain): 243.9
A Quick Interlude of Mark Cuban Reaction Shots
Game 1:
Game 2:
Game 3:
Game 4:
Game 5:
Game 6:
Good Time Level: -100,000,000
Now back to the celebs.
Alex Smith
Your 49ers starting QB is supporting his Bay Area comrades, a few months removed from a 7-9 season that saw his team miss the playoffs but beat the rival Broncos in Week 17 to keep Denver out of the postseason too. Here he is looking pleasant if perfunctory, almost as if he was obligated to be there by some sponsor like, say, the VitaminWater company.
Good Time Level: 4.1
Snoop Dogg
Getting … err … more comfortable!
Good Time Level: 7.5
Carlos Santana
Santana is a Bay Area legend, and responsible for at least one great moment in Warriors history. (Two if you count the time rock ’n’ roll artist David Garibaldi painted a real-time portrait of him at halftime to the strains of “Oye Como Va.”) He’s also a die-hard fan. How do we know? Here he is at Game 4:
And here he is at Game 6:
He’s got a lucky yellow outfit! I don’t even care if he looks bored or confused in every picture. He’s having the time of his life.
Good Time Level: Honorary 9.0
Snoop Dogg
Fuuuuck yes.
Good Time Level: 8.3
Jessica Alba and Cash Warren
Apparently, Cash Warren is a person who is the son of an actor from Hill Street Blues, a television show that existed. Also, according to Women’s Health, “Cash takes being Jessica’s support system very seriously.” These two met on the set of Fantastic Four, the sequel to which (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) is about to be released as they watch this game. (This is the successful but terrible version that came out in 2005, not the 2015 Josh Trank Fantastic Four flop.)
I would just like to point out that these two are STILL MARRIED AS I WRITE THIS IN 2020. According to The Ringer’s fact-checking desk, that makes them the second-longest-lasting Hollywood couple ever, after Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson.
Good Time Level (average): 5.0
Woody Harrelson
He looks happy to be there! He’s also a flat-brimmed hat away from his Now You See Me costume.
Good Time Level: 6.0
Owen Wilson
Whatever his elation level during Game 6 itself, Wilson found his true ecstasy postgame, when he made his way to the locker room to celebrate with the team.
Good Time Level: 9.0
Woody Harrelson
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Harrelson also showed up to the locker room after Game 6, chilling with Baron Davis alongside Kate and Owen.
Judging by their identical stances and similar sport coat style, Woody and Owen seem like buds.
Good Time Level: 7.5
Snoop Dogg and Woody Harrelson
If I know Woody—and I think I do—he’s interested in Davis and the rest of the Dubs, sure, but he’s also looking for a partner to, you know, get comfortable with. And if there’s anything we’ve learned from Snoop Dogg and his huge gold chain, it’s that the man loves to share.
And so I present to you the moment when Snoop lays eyes on Woody:
We have a winner. Two of them, actually.
Good Time Level: 10.0