Fansided

Every NBA team’s biggest celebrity fan

By Brendon Kleen

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Beyonce and Jay Z laugh during the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on January 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 22: Beyonce and Jay Z laugh during the game between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on January 22, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and condition of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 30
Next
390490 01: Actor Will Smith and his wife actress Jada Pinkett Smith applaud during game 3 of the NBA finals between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers, June 10, 2001 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Lakers defeated the 76ers 96-91. (Photo by M. David Leeds/Allsport via Getty Images)
390490 01: Actor Will Smith and his wife actress Jada Pinkett Smith applaud during game 3 of the NBA finals between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers, June 10, 2001 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Lakers defeated the 76ers 96-91. (Photo by M. David Leeds/Allsport via Getty Images) /

Philadelphia 76ers: Will Smith

Smith falls into both of the biggest categories for celebrity NBA fans: famous rappers and minority owners. He joins Nelly and Jay-Z in this elite club of successful musicians who are also successful investors and entrepreneurs.

In 2011, at the time of Josh Harris’s purchase of the 76ers for $287 million, Smith and his wife got in on that. It makes karmic sense that a true Philadelphian and old-school basketball guy would balance out the team of investors looking to take control of the Sixers. Smith flattens out the other end of Harris’s scale.

The self-proclaimed “old dude from the Suicide Squad” looks genuinely excited when he’s talking about his team. And in some odd way it does give the average fan a sense of pride to see someone grow up dreaming about meeting the players and seeing the games and eventually become a part-owner of that same team. It’s also cool when, in an increasingly statistics- and finance-based game, that someone looks like the players he represents. It’s a special way for Smith to use his influence.

Smith is somehow 49-years-old (which is a higher number than the Sixers’ win total over the last twelve seasons combined, approximately). That means he can really leverage his wisdom into real progress with a young team like the Sixers. In the Jimmy Kimmel clip above, Smith talks about how odd it is to look out at the team and see so many young people. It is even more odd for all of us to look out a screen and see “76ers’ Owner” labeled beneath Smith. But it’s cool.

Home/NBA