Coach admits being 'intimidated' to approach Taylor Swift at NBA Finals originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Taylor Swift had a coach feeling a little "intimidated" when she attended the NBA Finals this summer.
Swift was at Game 4 of the NBA Finals rooting for the New York Knicks, who faced the San Antonio Spurs at Madison Square Garden on June 11, alongside Alana Haim and Este Haim. She also sat beside Mariska Hargitay courtside.
Arkansas head coach John Calipari shared on the Oct. 15 episode of the "Eye on Basketball" podcast that he also attended Game 4 and spotted the pop star.
“I’m in the back corner just kind of watching, and Taylor Swift was there,” Calipari shared before admitting, “I was embarrassed to go up to her. She was talking to whoever she was talking to, Adam Sandler and his wife.”
He said he could have had an "in" to striking up a conversation with the superstar -- who would later get married to Travis Kelce at the same venue a month later -- since he was friends with Sandler. However, he shared that he did not end up going up to the "Cruel Summer" singer.
“I was intimidated," he said before adding that he did get a chance to speak with her, "and she came up and was bubbly."
Calipari is not the only one who recalls running into Swift during the game, as Hargitay, who sat beside her, spoke about how excited the singer was when the Knicks had their 29-point comeback.
“She was throwing me around like a rag doll!” Hargitay said of Swift to Jimmy Kimmel Live! last month.
Swift wore matching custom "Stevie Knicks" t-shirts with Hargitay, who shared that the singer gifted her the shirt when she sat down.
“Taylor, being the prepared woman that she is, was like, ‘I got you,’” Hargitay recalled.
Swift married Kelce less than a month later at Madison Square Garden, and Hargitay, who was a guest, shared that their ceremony was intimate despite having over 1,000 guests in attendance.
“I’m still floating from that wedding,” the Law & Order: SVU star shared. “It was so spectacular and so intimate, I have to say. I have to say, I am blown away, because when there’s a wedding with that many guests, you think, like, ‘Oh, okay, it’s gonna be that.’ And it just wasn’t.”
More lifestyle news:
- Naomi Osaka shares vulnerable message about her 'wildest dreams' on 29th birthday
- Brittany Mahomes shows off toned look in adidas 'archives' from fitness shoot
- LeBron James' 'Storm Drain' inspired by this fictional character in 2026 Nike Basketball Halloween collection
- Josh Allen has cute mic'd up moment asking for Hailee Steinfeld at Bills game
- Powerade centers women athletes in new promo amid Sydney Sweeney Novig ad backlash