Anyway, those who showed up to see the Pistons beat the Hornets were welcomed by Detroit favorite son Eminem, who had a courtside seat and tried to hype up the crowd after the players were introduced.

“Detroit, welcome them back for the first time in over 40 years to our city, to my city, to your city! Make some noise for the Detroit Pistons. Let’s go!” he said over the public-address system after the players were introduced.

Kid Rock, another Michigan-bred entertainer, also was in attendance. He wasn’t so warmly welcomed.

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“A few moments later, the videoboard showed Kid Rock, who was sitting courtside, and who got booed where Eminem got cheered,” Shawn Windsor of the Free Press reports.

The two recording artists have staked out positions on the opposite side of the political spectrum. At the BET awards last week, Eminem unleashed a blistering attack on President Trump in a four-minute freestyle called “The Storm,” attacking the president for his criticism of NFL players’ protests during the national anthem and his neglect of other issues facing the country. Kid Rock, meanwhile, has voiced his support for Trump and is weighing a run against Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow next year.

It’s unclear whether Eminem’s hype job was set up by the Pistons or the league — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was in attendance — or was more of a spur-of-the-moment thing, but Coach Stan Van Gundy seemed to think it went over well.

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“I thought just having Eminem up there was great as a Detroit guy,” he said afterward. “I thought it was great of [Pistons owner Tom Gores] — and if [NBA Commissioner] Adam Silver was involved — to think about that. I think without making any statement, they were able to make a statement by involving Eminem in it.”

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