Rihanna was the biggest star during Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and her presence took over the play on the court:
This took a turn, however, when a beef began to emerge between Rihanna and Kevin Durant. It started late in the third quarter when people thought Rihanna was yelling at Durant during a free throw:
Listen: Rihanna yells "BRIIIIIICK!!!" at Durant during free throw, he stares her down twice (h/t @tshent) pic.twitter.com/XYdFOv9mc3
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) June 2, 2017
The loud call of “BRIIIIICK!” could definitely be heard from Rihanna’s seats, but ESPN later showed a reverse angle that proved it wasn’t Rihanna who yelled at KD, but rather her longtime assistant and friend Jenn Rosales:
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8618667/brick.png)
Durant stared down Rihanna’s seats after sinking his free throw, and immediately the beef was born. Later in the game, he drained a three, again with a call of “BRIIICK!” coming from the seats — and he stared down Rihanna again:
Kevin Durant literally shot his shot for Rihanna pic.twitter.com/EX1PUaGXJM
— justin lew block (@JBlock49) June 2, 2017
It became such a big story, that KD was asked about it in the Warriors’ postgame press conference, and Steph Curry did his best to try and make sure his teammate didn’t take the bait:
Kevin Durant says he's not touching the Rihanna question, Steph's reaction is hilarious pic.twitter.com/H2jEUCIPC4
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) June 2, 2017
Rihanna has a deep, well-established history of being a huge LeBron James fan. Last night, she bowed to the king and then dabbed on a fan who told her to sit down:
Amazing.
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) June 2, 2017
Rihanna bows to LeBron then hits a dab and small waves a Warriors fan telling her to sit down.
pic.twitter.com/q0IyIPIbGK
Last year she celebrated with him in spirit:
It’s obvious that Rihanna is pulling for James and the Cavs in this series, and by extension, wants to see the Warriors fail. But that doesn’t make this beef with Kevin Durant deserved. It’s just a shame this latest run-in might spoil what Durant hoped could have been:
That girl @rihanna RT @AyeDerBaba94: @KDTrey5 So my question is... If you could marry any girl who would it be?? RT
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) November 22, 2011