Minnesota Vikings star Justin Jefferson didn’t let front-row seats at the NBA Finals stop him from gaming on Thursday night in Indianapolis.
A viral clip from the Indiana Pacers’ Game 6 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder shows Jefferson playing ‘Fortnite’ on his mobile device as a seatmate thumbs around on his phone.
Many fans were outraged to see two people squandering courtside seats along the baseline, which were valued at around $50,000 on the resale market.
‘Imagine being rich enough where 10 to 50 thousand dollar tickets don’t even matter,’ one critic wrote in response to the social media clip.
Many others offered some version of: ‘Just watch the game.’
Of course, the clip appears to come from before the opening tip. And while most NBA fans would feel lucky to watch warmups from the baseline, Jefferson is no stranger to that vantagepoint. The former LSU star is a near-fixture at Minnesota Timberwolves games and was regularly seen sitting courtside throughout the playoffs.
A clip from the Indiana Pacers’ Game 6 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder shows Jefferson (left) playing ‘ Fortnite ’ on his mobile device as a seatmate thumbs around on his phone
Jefferson is now done with the Vikings’ organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp. He will return to the team facility in Eagan, Minnesota when training camp begins on July 26
Stephen A. Smith was caught playing solitaire on his phone during Game 4 of the NBA Finals
The viral clip does serve as another warning for high-profile NBA playoff attendees.
Just last week, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith was caught playing solitaire during Game 4 of the Finals. A clip of the distracted sports media personality subsequently went viral, leading Smith to offer a defense online.
‘Yep! That’s me,’ Smith wrote. ‘Who would’ve thought….I can multi-task. Especially during TIMEOUTS! Hope y’all are enjoying the NBA Finals. This is going 7 games now, peeps!’
Smith was right about this series going seven games.
Oklahoma City entered Thursday with a chance to eliminate Indiana on the Pacers’ homecourt, but instead fell 108-91. Now the Thunder will have homecourt advantage for the 2024-25 season finale on Sunday night.
Once again, the Pacers bench outshined the Thunder’s, as power forward Obi Toppin had a team-high 20 points.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City sixth man Alex Caruso had a -33 plus-minus rating for the game as he failed to score.
Jefferson and his Vikings teammates are now done with organized team activities (OTAs) and minicamp. They’ll return to the team facility in Eagan, Minnesota when training camp begins on July 26.
