Just over 14 years after the basketball comedy Semi-Pro hit theaters, Will Ferrell brought his Jackie Moon character out of retirement Tuesday night at the Golden State Warriors game in San Francisco.
Those who showed up early to watch warm-ups – like former MLB superstar and current Minnesota Timberwolves co-owner Alex Rodriguez – were treated to the 54-year-old actor donning his Flint Tropics uniform from the 2008 movie.
He was seen taking some warm-up shots with Golden State Warriors stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and he even hit a half-court shot, to the delight of the fans.
Will as Jackie: Just over 14 years after the basketball comedy Semi-Pro hit theaters, Will Ferrell brought his Jackie Moon character out of retirement Tuesday night at the Golden State Warriors game in San Francisco
Warm-up: He was seen taking some warm-up shots with Golden State Warriors stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, and he even hit a half-court shot, to the delight of the fans
The 2008 movie focuses on Ferrell’s character Jackie Moon, who served as the star player, coach and owner of the fledgling American Basketball Association team the Flint Tropics.
The movie also starred Woody Harrelson, Andre ‘3000’ Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Will Arnett, David Koechner, Rob Corddry and Jackie Earle Haley.
The comedy opened to just $15.2 million in February 2008 and earning just $44 million worldwide through its brief theatrical run.
Jackie: The 2008 movie focuses on Ferrell’s character Jackie Moon, who served as the star player, coach and owner of the fledgling American Basketball Association team the Flint Tropics.
As for what prompted Ferrell’s return as Jackie Moon on Tuesday, it’s unclear, though Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson is a huge fan of the movie.
Thompson even dressed up as Jackie Moon for the Warriors’ Halloween game in 2018, and he was seen briefly interacting with Ferrell during warm-ups on Tuesday.
The Atlantic’s Warriors beat writer Anthony Slater shared a video from court-level during warm-ups of Ferrell taking some baseline jump shots.
Will and Klay: As for what prompted Ferrell’s return as Jackie Moon on Tuesday, it’s unclear, though Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson is a huge fan of the movie
Klay as Jackie: Thompson even dressed up as Jackie Moon for the Warriors’ Halloween game in 2018, and he was seen briefly interacting with Ferrell during warm-ups on Tuesday
‘Extremely weird pregame scene in SF — Will Ferrell, as Jackie Moon, is warming up with Klay Thompson and Alex Rodriguez is watching,’ he said, with the video at one point panning to Rodriguez watching from the aisle.
Ferrell was also seen taking free throws in the classic ‘granny’ style Moon uses in the film, and attempting to defend Thompson as he knocked down three-point shots.
The outing came as the Warriors were in the midst of a five-game losing streak, with the Associated Press speculating that Ferrell’s energy might have been just what the team needed, as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-97 and snapped their skid.
Weird: ‘Extremely weird pregame scene in SF — Will Ferrell, as Jackie Moon, is warming up with Klay Thompson and Alex Rodriguez is watching,’ he said, with the video at one point panning to Rodriguez watching from the aisle
Granny: Ferrell was also seen taking free throws in the classic ‘granny’ style Moon uses in the film, and attempting to defend Thompson as he knocked down three-point shots
Snapped: The outing came as the Warriors were in the midst of a five-game losing streak, with the Associated Press speculating that Ferrell’s energy might have been just what the team needed, as they beat the Los Angeles Clippers 112-97 and snapped their skid
Ferrell joked to the AP that he was ‘under contract,’ adding, ‘So this is the very first tryout with the team, let’s see what happens.’
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr revealed after the game that Ferrell actually emailed the coach a while back, which lead to Tuesday’s surprise warm-up appearance.
Steph Curry said, ‘It was fun, and I’m glad we took advantage of it,” Stephen Curry said. “… I think we fed off the energy. I was actually surprised, his form, he actually had some good rotation on the ball, and endless energy. I don’t know how.’
Under contract: Ferrell joked to the AP that he was ‘under contract,’ adding, ‘So this is the very first tryout with the team, let’s see what happens’
Email: Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr revealed after the game that Ferrell actually emailed the coach a while back, which lead to Tuesday’s surprise warm-up appearance
Steph and Will: Steph Curry said, ‘It was fun, and I’m glad we took advantage of it,” Stephen Curry said. “… I think we fed off the energy. I was actually surprised, his form, he actually had some good rotation on the ball, and endless energy. I don’t know how’
Thompson, who scored 20 points in the Tuesday night win, said that he would watch Semi-Pro ‘endlessly’ during his grueling two-year rehab stint after tearing his ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 2019, and then an Achilles tendon tear in 2020, which he just returned from in January.
‘When I had some dark days I would put that movie on and it would make me smile. I’m very thankful for that film,’ Thompson said of Semi-Pro.
He added of Ferrell’s surprise appearance, ‘That was so cool, dreams do come true.’
Endlessly: Thompson, who scored 20 points in the Tuesday night win, said that he would watch Semi-Pro ‘endlessly’ during his grueling two-year rehab stint after tearing his ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 2019, and then an Achilles tendon tear in 2020, which he just returned from in January
So cool: He added of Ferrell’s surprise appearance, ‘That was so cool, dreams do come true’
Dark: ‘When I had some dark days I would put that movie on and it would make me smile. I’m very thankful for that film,’ Thompson said of Semi-Pro
Kerr added that Ferrell himself was a ‘huge Klay Thompson fan and he knows how much Klay loves dressing up as Jackie Moon, so it was just kind of a natural fit and it felt like a good time to do it just to make everybody laugh in a tough stretch of the season.’
‘He was great. He came into our locker room, made the guys laugh. Everybody loved seeing him and hearing from him. He was hilarious,’ Kerr added.
Ferrell’s outing comes just after fans got a first look at his new holiday musical Spirited with Ryan Reynolds.
Huge fan: Kerr added that Ferrell himself was a ‘huge Klay Thompson fan and he knows how much Klay loves dressing up as Jackie Moon, so it was just kind of a natural fit and it felt like a good time to do it just to make everybody laugh in a tough stretch of the season’
Great: ‘He was great. He came into our locker room, made the guys laugh. Everybody loved seeing him and hearing from him. He was hilarious,’ Kerr added
Laughs: Ferrell’s outing comes just after fans got a first look at his new holiday musical Spirited with Ryan Reynolds