Conor McGregor, the renowned former UFC lightweight and featherweight champion, made a memorable appearance during Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday. The Irishman delivered a forceful left hook to the Miami Heat’s mascot, creating a stir in Miami. McGregor’s purpose for being on the court was to promote his cryotherapy pain relief spray, but the encounter quickly escalated into an attention-grabbing moment.
The incident occurred as McGregor stood midcourt when the Heat’s mascot, ‘Burnie,’ approached wearing oversized boxing gloves. Seemingly engaged in a campaign stunt, McGregor swiftly landed a powerful hook, followed by an additional punch, leaving Burnie on the ground. McGregor then proceeded to spray the Heat’s mascot with his TIDL Sports product, which he declared earlier is the team’s official sponsor.
Already expressing their disapproval, the crowd at Kaseya Center responded with a cacophony of boos before McGregor eventually exited the court.
Heat delete McGregor
Interestingly, the Miami Heat’s official Twitter account initially shared a video of McGregor sporting a red jumpsuit, showing his support for the team prior to the crowd’s negative reaction. However, after the event, the team quietly deleted all traces of McGregor. While it’s unclear if that had anything to do with the crowd turning on McGregor, it’ll be interesting to see if that affects his sponsorship deal with the Heat in any way.
As the team now faces a 1-3 deficit in the 2023 NBA Finals, with Game 4 ending in a loss against the Denver Nuggets, all eyes are on the Heat’s performance in the upcoming must-win away game.