Before a buzzy Celtics-Mavericks NBA Finals tipped off on Thursday night, GQ Sports and ESPN came together to host folks from the worlds of sports, music, and entertainment at ArtSpace at New York City’s Public Hotel for a high-energy watch party. While Game 1 was going down some 200 miles away, the big-game energy made its way down the coast, thanks to some expert party throwers and goers.
The evening kicked off with a welcome from GQ global editorial director Will Welch and Emmy-award winning ESPN personality Molly Qerim, and then the stage belonged to Metro Boomin, who manned the ones and twos for a performance live-streamed around the world, including on billboards in Times Square. Metro wasn’t alone, though: in his raucous pregame set, he brought out several trusted friends to keep the energy at full-blast. First up was Offset, who brought the house down with live renditions of “Ric Flair Drip” and the fan favorite “Bad and Boujee,” dapping up the crowd all the way through.
From there, Bronx legend A Boogie Wit da Hoodie took over, lighting up the city that he calls home. The musical portion of the night concluded with birthday boy Swae Lee, who celebrates his 31st trip around the sun on Friday. Metro, in true buddy fashion, led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to the iced out rapper, who rolled into “No Type” as well as songs from the Metro-produced Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack. And then it was time for some hoops, with Game 1 of the NBA Finals on ABC broadcast on screens throughout the venue.
While Quavo held court on the ground floor, podcast host Pablo Torre and ESPN’s Kevin Clark marveled at the unbelievable shooting night the Celtics were enjoying. Ziwe chatted with friends, while NBA legend Metta World Peace was glued to the screen, even in retirement. A wire-to-wire Boston blowout didn’t quell the liveliness—especially for the few Jaylen Brown and Paul Pierce jerseys that floated around the party.
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