Five Thirsty NBA Athletes Who Tried Shooting Their Shot With Rihanna Only To Be Rejected Into The Bleachers

In the most anticipated NBA Finals in years, Rihanna was the biggest story in Game 1. Even Van Gundy couldn’t do his job with her in the building. It’s no secret that Rihanna is a huge NBA fan–more specifically LeBron James fan–and has graced the sidelines of a plethora of NBA games. Despite displaying her undying allegiance to King James on multiple occasions, other NBA athletes haven’t been shy in trying to court the Barbados beauty. Some more successful than others.

Here is a list of five NBA players who have publicly tried shooting their shots with RiRi and how she responded.

Andrew Bynum

The 7-foot Pacers center was spotted having dinner with Rihanna during his playing days in Los Angeles in April 2009. Sources told X17online the pair looked “very couple-y, sitting real close to each other in the car.” This coupled with the fact that Rihanna was recently single at the time makes it easy to jump to conclusions. But when confronted with the rumors that she was dating Bynum, Rihanna said:

“I couldn’t believe they insulted me like that.”

Posterized.

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J.R. Smith

If there’s one thing we know about J.R. Smith it’s that he’s never seen a shot he didn’t like. And he’s going to shoot it. Whether on the court or off. It’s been well documented that Smith allegedly hooked up with Rihanna at some point in 2012. According to Sports Illustrated, they were seen showing some serious PDA at nightclubs in New York and Miami, but that’s before their relationship spiral downhill quickly. When Smith had a dogshit game during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference (in his Knick days), Rihanna went viral with the below Instagram comment:

Smith fired back by mocking her blind fandom to then Miami Heat star LeBron.

https://www.instagram.com/p/qcOHWGNfPw/

The Knicks were then quickly knocked out of the playoffs.

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Joel Embiid

Instagram


Give it a few years, young fella. Immediately upon entering the league, the now 23-year-old Sixers center was feeling a little parched before sending out this tweet:

He asked fans to vote him into the All-Star Game this year because he said she told him to “come back when you’re an All-Star.” Instead, he tried to pitch himself at an ESPN event hosted by SportsCenter‘s Jemele Hill and Michael Smith.

“I mean, look at myself. I’m 7-2, I’m good looking. Women usually love my accent because I’m from Cameroon in Africa. And I’m pretty intelligent, too. And I’m funny. I love pretty women. I feel good about myself.”

Back to the drawing board, bro.

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Matt Barnes

Without a doubt, the most bizarre of them all. It all started back in 2015 when Matt Barnes made Rihanna his #WCW (Woman Crush Wednesday) on Instagram. He then attempted to flirt with her on Instagram after she sat court side during a game in which Barnes broke into the starting lineup. His ex-wife turned Derek Fisher’s current wife Gloria Govan even reportedly gave her stamp of approval—as long as she got hooked up with concert tickets. When asked by TMZ the status of their relationship, Barnes said they “just past the crush stage.”

RiRi was not having it.

Note the hashtags:

“#bishwhere #thedevilisaliar #shesnotthatintoyou #shesnotintoyouatall #shesneverevenmetyou #thisactuallyhurtmyfeelings #defamationofcharacter,”

Barnes could only say one word:

Wow. Do less.

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Rashard Lewis

Andy Lyons/Getty Images


The unlikely hero. Back in 2009, Rihanna was spotted leaving Orlando Magic forward Rashard Lewis’s apartment without pants when paparazzi caught her walking out the front door of his building.

Pinterest


That’s something The Who squad can celebrate over.

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Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.