硅谷大佬最愛這支NBA球隊

在NBA賽場里，有這么一群球隊，乍看起來跟普通的球迷差不多。

不過在今年NBA總決賽第三場多倫多猛龍隊對金州勇士隊的比賽中，一個坐在場邊的穿著保守的球迷推搡了猛龍隊的后衛凱爾·洛瑞，事后大家才知道，這位不文明球迷竟然是硅谷的億萬富翁投資人馬克·史蒂芬斯，他還是金州勇士隊的一個小股東。消息一出，激起了軒然大波。史蒂芬斯被罰一年不得在現場觀看NBA的比賽，并處50萬美元罰金。由于此事的發酵，他在金州勇士隊的那些股份現在也岌岌可危了。

這件事也揭露了金州勇士隊保守得很好的一個小秘密——如果你認識所有的硅谷大佬，你就總能在勇士隊的比賽中發現某位科技界億萬富翁的身影。金州勇士隊的板凳區旁邊的座位甚至被人戲稱為“億萬富翁專區”。

這倒并不令人意外，因為勇士隊的老板喬·萊科布本人就是一位資深風投人士。經常來現場看比賽的還有知名風投機構安德森霍洛維茨基金的聯合創始人、合伙人本·霍洛維茨?；袈寰S茨據說也是勇士隊的鋒衛搖擺人伊戈達拉的好朋友，他和霍洛維茨基金的另一合伙人杰夫·喬丹還為伊戈達拉提供過咨詢服務。

Salesforce公司的CEO馬克·貝尼奧夫也曾經在金州勇士隊的主場——加州奧蘭多的甲骨文體育館現場觀看過比賽。Airbnb的CEO布萊恩·切斯基也經常到現場看球。在上周五的比賽中，勇士隊以92:105不敵猛龍隊，很多勇士隊的前排球迷不等比賽結束便提前離場了。

蘋果公司的互聯網和軟件服務高級副總裁艾迪·庫伊也是勇士隊的死忠粉。在現場觀戰時，他經常激動得從座椅上跳起來。勇士隊2015年第一次奪冠后，他甚至還在推特上發了一張自己戴著碩大的鑲滿黃金和鉆石的總冠軍戒指的照片。

在2017年總決賽的一場比賽中，庫伊還對克里夫蘭騎士隊的球迷、POP天后蕾哈娜大喊大叫起來。據報道，庫伊當時指著蕾哈娜的方向對身邊的人說：“讓那個賤人坐下！”號稱“蕾哈娜的海軍”的天后后援團的粉絲們怒了，在社交媒體上紛紛放話要滅了這貨乃至蘋果公司。庫伊只得通過推特向蕾哈娜示好：“我對蕾哈娜（還有杜蘭特）只有愛，沒有別的！我當時是為我們隊的領先感到興奮，我其實是跟右邊與我隔了8個位子的瑪麗莎說話來著！”雖然他沒說瑪麗莎是誰，但很多人猜測她是雅虎的前CEO瑪麗莎·梅耶爾。

實際上，金州勇士隊和科技界的聯系是非常緊密的，勇士隊的庫里、杜蘭特和伊戈達拉等都投資了幾家硅谷的創業公司。

庫里投資的公司名叫CoachUp和SnapTravel，前者是一家將專業私教和年輕運動員進行配對的創業公司，后者則是一家多倫多的創業公司，可以通過WhatsApp和Pinterest等社交媒體平臺簡化酒店的預訂流程。杜蘭特則投資了一個名叫Postmates的食品外賣服務平臺，和一個叫Acorns的微投資APP。

伊戈達拉也投資了三家公司。一家是阿里安娜·赫芬頓支持的健康與保健網站Thrive Global；一家是專門針對有色族裔的健康和美容創業公司Walker & Company；另一家是由棒球界的傳奇人物德里克·吉特創辦的媒體平臺The Players’ Tribune，它允許運動員實名注冊并發表內容。

金州勇士隊的主要贊助商還包括日本電商網站樂天（他們的標識還出現在了勇士隊的球衣上）。今年秋天，擁有更高科技含量的勇士隊新主場場館將在舊金山市中心落成，到時無疑將吸引更多的科技界人士到場看球。

在新球館落成后，硅谷大佬們就不用擠嚴重擁堵的海灣大橋了，而是可以沿美國101號高速公路直奔舊金山市區。這樣一來，我們必然會在勇士隊比賽的現場看見更多硅谷大佬的身影。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

They only look like your average fans.

It caused quite a stir when the conservatively dressed fan sitting courtside who shoved Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of the NBA Finals turned out to be Silicon Valley billionaire venture capitalist and Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens. He was consequently banned from attending games for one year, fined $500,000 and his stake in the team likely in jeopardy.

The incident cast a spotlight on a well-kept Warriors secret, which is that if you know who to look for, you can almost always spot a tech billionaire at a Warriors game. So much so that the courtside seats near the Warriors’ bench are often referred to as “Billionaire’s Row.”

It makes sense, given that Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob is also a longtime VC. Other regulars include Ben Horowitz, a co-founder and general partner at the VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz. Horowitz is considered good friends with Andre Iguodala, the Warriors’ swingman, and known for advising the basketball star along with Jeff Jordan, an Andreessen Horowitz partner.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has been known to sit up close to watch the action at Oracle Arena, the Warriors current home in Oakland, California. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky has also been spotted taking in games. Many front row fans likely left early Friday after the Warriors lost Game 4 to the Raptors 105-92.

One of the most boisterous Warriors fans is Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet and software services. He’s often seen jumping out of his seat during Warriors’ games. Cue is such a fan that he even tweeted a photo of himself wearing a huge gold and diamond-encrusted Warriors championship ring when the team won its first title in 2015.

At one game, Cue was seen apparently yelling at pop princess Rihanna, a Cleveland Cavaliers fan at the time, during the 2017 NBA Finals. Cue reportedly told others nearby to “tell that b- to sit down,” at the Grammy-winning singer’s direction. RiRi’s fierce legion of fans, dubbed “Rihanna’s Navy,” trolled Cue and Apple mercilessly on social media. This prompted Cue to respond via Twitter. “Nothing but love for Rihanna (and KD, too!) As usual, I was excited about our lead and actually talking to Marissa, 8 seats to my right,” Cue tweeted. While Cue didn’t mention who Marissa was, many assumed it was former Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer.

Indeed, the links between tech and the Warriors are so strong that star players Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Iguodala have invested in several startups.

Curry has invested in CoachUp, a startup that pairs private coaches with young athletes, SnapTravel, a Toronto-based startup that promotes simplifying the hotel booking process by making reservations on message platforms like WhatsApp, and Pinterest. Durant has invested in online food delivery service Postmates and Acorns, a micro-investing app.

Iguodala has invested in the Arianna Huffington-backed Thrive Global, a health and wellness site; Walker & Company, a health and beauty startup targeted to people of color, and The Players’ Tribune, the media platform allowing athletes to write first-person accounts founded by baseball legend Derek Jeter.

One of the team’s main sponsors includes e-commerce site Rakuten (their logo is on the team’s jerseys), and its new tech-enhanced arena in downtown San Francisco opening this fall will undoubtedly mean more techies will attend.

Expect to see even more billionaires in attendance once they don’t have to cross congested traffic on the Bay Bridge and instead take a long, but occasionally brutal trek up to the city from the Valley on U.S. Highway 101.