Photos caught Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob sitting next to Rihanna during Game 1 of the NBA Finals—and then, abruptly, sitting two seats away with his fiancée in between. It’s not what you think.


The Undeniable Power of Rihanna: A Story in Three Tweets Last night, Rihanna sat courtside at Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and… Read more

As it turns out, Lacob just could not put up with Rihanna cheering for the Cavs. Speaking at a panel on Friday, Lacob explained that he had specifically invited Rihanna to come sit near him, but quickly changed his mind.

She bought seats, paid a lot of money for them, and she can root for whoever she wants, right? But I thought I would be a nice guy and I took my two kids, who get to go to a lot of games and booted them down to the end of the court and moved her next to me, and said, ‘hey, sit next to the owner.’ “I thought I was being friendly. She was rooting for LeBron the whole game so finally I was getting irritated and I said, ‘I’m the owner of the Warriors.’ She didn’t care, she just kept going. So finally I said that’s it, and I moved a couple seats down. Everyone has it that I moved my fiancée next to her because she got upset that I was sitting next to Rihanna which is not true.”


Got it? It’s not that Rihanna’s siren song is irresistible. Exactly the opposite, apparently.