"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, Joao 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."
"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'."
An NBA regular season game returned to London at the O2 Arena, with the Memphis Grizzlies defeating the Orlando Magic in the first UK contest in seven years. A sell-out crowd of 18,424 attended, including footballers Declan Rice, Joao Pedro, Virgil van Dijk and Thierry Henry, plus celebrities such as Rosamund Pike and Mo Gilligan. A brief jumbotron appearance by Sir Sadiq Khan during the fourth quarter prompted boos from parts of the crowd after he had reportedly left. Khan has supported basketball initiatives including the More Ball Games campaign and backing for the London Lions arena project. The US anthem performance was interrupted by political shouting.
Read at www.standard.co.uk
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]