Jack Nicholson is once again proving that he is perhaps the biggest Lakers fan out there. The beloved Hollywood icon, who has seldom stepped out into public since his retirement, made a rare public appearance on Tuesday as he sat court-side at an L.A. Lakers game, marking one of the first times he has attended a game since the start of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Nicholson was photographed courtside at the Los Angeles Laker’s Tuesday night game at the Staples Center against the Golden State Warriors. In true Nicholson fashion, the actor donned a near all-black outfit, including a black face mask, as he watched the game. It is unclear if Nicholson attended the game alone or if he went with company, and while the event ultimately saw the Golden State Warriors beating the Lakers 121 to 114, the Lakers and fans were more than eager to welcome Nicholson back to his customary courtside seat. After spotting the actor in the crowd, the official Twitter account for the Lakers marked the moment with a tweet, sharing that “it wasn’t the same without” Nicholson in 2020.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Since stepping out of the spotlight and away from Hollywood, Nicholson has rarely made public appearances. The one exception has been his steady string of Lakers game appearances. The actor has attended games every couple months in recent years, last appearing at a January 2020 game between the Lakers and the New York Knicks, which he attended with his 27-year-old son Ray, whom he shares with Rebecca Broussard. Prior to that, Nicholson had been spotted at an October 2019 game with daughter Lorraine.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter of his grandfather in a December 2019 interview, Nicholson’s grandson Duke Nicholson, also an aspiring actor, spoke of his grandfather’s love of sports, revealing that they watch sports together, including the Lakers. He also addressed his grandfather’s absence from the public eye, sharing that Nicholson is “doing great” and is “100%.”
While Nicholson had been signed on to do a remake of the Oscar-nominated foreign film Toni Erdmann in early 2017, he dropped out of the project in August 2018. After earning his last acting credit in 2010’s How Do You Know, Nicholson told The Sun in a 2013 interview that he’s less motivated to “be out there anymore,” adding that “the movie business is the greatest business but I only want to do films that move people, films about emotions and people.”
