Sir Sadiq Khan found himself painted as the pantomime villain when he appeared on the O2 Arena’s big screen at the NBA’s big return to London at the weekend.
Famous faces were on the front row as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Orlando Magic in the first National Basketball Association game contested in the UK for seven years. It is the 10th time a competitive NBA regular season game has been held at the Greenwich venue since 2011.
Footballers Declan Rice, João Pedro and Virgil van Dijk were in VIP courtside seats for the game, while Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry joined his compatriot, the basketball Hall of Fame star Tony Parker, beside the Orlando Magic team bench.
As the large jumbotron screen hanging from the arena ceiling revealed which stars were in the building, the brief appearance of the Mayor of London was met with less appreciation. Members of the crowd booed the video shown in the fourth quarter of the game, after the point at which Sir Sadiq is believed to have already left.
The mayor has shown his support for basketball initiatives in the last year, such as the “More Ball Games” campaign to increase the availability of public spaces for playing sports, and backing the London Lions’ project to build a new arena in the city.
A sell-out crowd of 18,424 was announced as being in attendance at The O2 Arena, which also included non-sporting celebrities such as actor Rosamund Pike and comedian Mo Gilligan.
Before the game, during the customary singing of the national anthems, members of the crowd took the opportunity to express their political views at the showpiece event. Vanessa Williams’ performance of the US anthem was disturbed a number of times, with one attendee loudly shouting ‘leave Greenland alone’.
