Lifestyle

LOOK: Is BTS Star Suga a Lakers or Luka Fan?

By Annika Caniza - January 13, 2023
Korean superstar Suga was spotted today watching the Lakers vs. the Mavericks. Sitting at courtside, he even got the chance to meet one of the biggest NBA stars before the tip-off.

Suga, one of the stars of the biggest KPop band BTS, is a huge basketball fan. In fact, for those of you who didn’t know, his name even comes from his love for the sport.

The first two syllables of the words ‘shooting’ and ‘guard’ in Korean form the name Suga, which is the position that the Korean superstar plays.

In addition, Suga plays basketball in BTS’ music video for their hit song Dynamite, repping a Tune Squad jersey from Michael Jordan’s hit movie, Space Jam. With this, he has never kept the fact that he’s a huge basketball fan a secret.

Today, the basketball fan in him certainly must have come alive as he sat courtside at the Lakers vs. Mavericks game in LA.

Before the game even started, Suga arrived early to show off his new drip — an LA Lakers jersey with his name and favorite number printed on the back. Tonight, it seems he’s rooting for LeBron James.

But this isn’t the first jersey he’s received from being a sports fan through the years. In his collection, he also owns jerseys from the Golden State Warriors, a team he has also watched live in the past.

However, even though he was repping an LA Lakers jersey before the game, he also got the chance to meet a player on the visiting team: the star of the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Dončić.

You can’t be just anyone if you’re going to stop one of the NBA’s top players from his pregame practice on the court.

In fact, in the videos that have been circulating online from the two’s quick meeting before the game, it’s hard to tell who wanted the photo with whom. They are both huge stars, after all.

So, who is Suga’s favorite team?

But, even though Suga is in LA tonight rooting for the Lakers, and even though he seemed eager to meet Dončić, neither the Lakers nor the Mavericks are Suga’s favorite teams.

In a 2021 interview with Vogue Korea, Suga revealed his actual favorite NBA team.

“The Portland Trail Blazers. I prefer the underdogs to the big teams,” Suga told Vogue Korea. In addition, he also revealed that his favorite player is Damian Lillard.

After this interview was released, the Trail Blazers even gave Suga a shoutout.

Plus, Damian Lillard took the words from Suga’s Vogue Korea interview to heart. To show his appreciation for the BTS star’s admiration, the Trail Blazers even posted a video of a personal message from Lillard himself.

Indeed, Suga is not your average NBA fan. He’s a true fan of the sport, and on top of that, he’s a player too. And it isn’t every basketball fanatic who gets his own jerseys, personal shoutouts, and heartfelt messages from players.

Banner images from NBA on Twitter.


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