If you’ve been to an NBA arena on game night, it’s easy to notice the level of security. Fans have to go through several steps just to get into the arena. And it’s a totally different process for players who have a designated entrance and parking area away from the general public.
But we’ve seen social media personalities — mainly, Fake Klay — try to infiltrate arena security before. And we saw it once again with TikTok star Airrack (Eric Decker, not the former NFL player).
Decker posted a video to TikTok this week, showing that he made it through security checkpoints at the Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena by impersonating Austin Reaves.
he snuck into the stadium as Austin Reaves pic.twitter.com/qr9flpguEC
— Daily Loud (@DailyLoud) May 10, 2023
Decker has a moderate — at best — resemblance to Reaves. But he was able to breach security by wearing colored contacts, renting the car Reaves drives, booking a driver and dressing like the Lakers guard. He also wore a face mask with “too small” on it just to make it more difficult on the security team.
Surprisingly enough, Decker did manage to make it through the player entrance. He claimed he also purchased tickets to the game and didn’t go on the court. Fake Klay got banned from the Chase Center after he did a similar prank. But unlike Decker, Fake Klay put up shots on the court as if he was actually Klay Thompson. The Lakers likely won’t care about that distinction.
Of course, these social media personalities never consider the repercussions that employees at the arena could face for letting an un-authorized person through. Was it really worth getting someone fired for content? NBA fans also had thoughts on the prank.