DrDisrespect appeared in full costume live during an NBA broadcast last night.
Fans spotted Doc sitting in the audience of Game 2 of the series between the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors last night. Fans saw him both watching the match quietly and standing up and cheering in character.
DrDisrespect shared Warriors’ tweet about the game in his profile, so he’s probably a fan of the team. The Warriors beat the Raptors 109-104 and tied the Finals series 1-1. Doc shared earlier yesterday that he was in Toronto and tweeted, “see you courtside tonight.”
Though Doc was in character for the match, he has no direct ties to the basketball community. He mostly streams first-person shooter games like Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and Apex Legends on his Twitch channel. He’s never streamed sports simulators regularly, despite the growth of the main basketball title NBA 2K19.
The crossover between games and sports is strong in basketball. The NBA has an official esports league with the NBA 2K League, which features 21 teams in its 2019 edition. All teams in the league are owned by an NBA team, like the 2018 champions Knicks Gaming. The League also features players’ drafts in the pre-season.
It’s a stretch to say Doc’s appearance means anything more than him being a fan of basketball and wanting to watch an NBA Finals match. What we have yet to see is if his appearance in television broadcasts all over the world will have a positive impact on his visibility in the mainstream media.
