Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob wants to set the record straight: His fiancée did not force him to switch seats with her during Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Lacob was seated next to Rihanna for part of the game, and many observers noted this on Twitter:
Rihanna is sitting next to Joe Lacob.
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) June 5, 2015
Rihanna now chatting with Joe Lacob.
— Diamond Leung (@diamond83) June 5, 2015
Rihanna in the building, sitting next to Warriors owner Joe Lacob.
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) June 5, 2015
Later in the game, people noticed that Lacob's fiancée, Nicole, had taken his seat next to the 27-year-old pop star. Some assumed it was because Nicole didn't want her future husband getting too comfortable with Rihanna.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob was sitting courtside next to Rihanna. His fiancée put an end to that. pic.twitter.com/nefmPSzcKb
— SI NBA (@si_nba) June 5, 2015
But Lacob says he was the one who wanted to switch seats. Speaking on a panel with Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, Lacob revealed the real reason for the seat swap.
“I thought I was being friendly," Lacob says in the video below. "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.”
Rihanna may have been rooting for LeBron but she probably wasn't cheering quite as loudly for former flame J.R. Smith.
Things turned out OK for Lacob, as his Warriors won Game 1. Without Rihanna in attendance, the Cavaliers took Game 2.
