We See You! The Top 10 Celebrity Sports Fans.

In one of his greatest speeches, ​The Power of Sport,​ the esteemed Nelson Mandela once said, “(sport) has the power to unite people in a way that little else does...”; it doesn’t matter what race, creed, religion, proletariat or aristocrat, sports connects us all in a way that transcends the boundaries put on us by socio-economic differences. No matter if you’re someone sitting in the nosebleeds or someone sitting with your feet on the court, you both live and die with every shot, every touchdown, every pitch.

That’s why it’s always fascinating (and entertaining) to see our favorite A-listers (and B/C-listers) living and dying with us regular folks as we both celebrate and get our hearts broken. But just because you can afford the court-side seats doesn’t automatically make you a ​real f​an.

It’s easy to see who’s real and who’s fake, so let’s take a look at the 10 best celebrity sports fans; these are the true diehards.

Billy Crystal, actor/comedian

Favorite Team(s): New York Yankees, Los Angeles Clippers

Obviously, it’s easy to be a Yankees fan. They are the most storied franchise in sports, and winners of 27 world championships; with fans from all over the world, the bandwagon has been packed for decades. But at least Crystal is a native New Yorker and has seen them win almost half of those. What sets Crystal apart from a lot of celebrity sports fans, especially those who have moved to Los Angeles, is that he has been a Clippers fan ​long ​before they became relevant somewhere around 2010. In a city where it’s almost expected for you to be a Lakers fan, Crystal has supported the red-headed step-child Clippers through their many, many years of being pretty awful. Major props for that alone. Bonus points for playing an NBA ref in ​Forget Paris, ​directing the Roger Maris film ​61*, ​and his close friendship with and amazing imersonation of, Muhammad Ali.

Snoop Dogg, rapper

Favorite Team(s): Los Angeles Lakers, Pittsburgh Steelers, USC Fighting Trojans

Snoop is sometimes seen as a bit of a front-runner, using the tired “I’m a fan of [blank] team because my father/grandfather/mother/etc etc was a fan” excuse to justify his Steelers fandom, but he makes this list because he legitimately supports the Lakers and Trojans, often showing up at their games and even Trojan practices, especially during their 2000’s heyday when Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush were enrolled. Whenever he’s asked to speak on the topic of sports he usually sounds like he knows what he’s talking about, which is always a plus. He recently got into hockey (never a Kings fan but has adopted the Vegas Golden Knights), and you haven’t lived until you’ve heard him do hockey play-by-play. Let’s just say he brings his own Snoop Doggy Dogg flair to a sport he’s still learning. It is hilarious. Bonus points for years ago starting and coaching in a pee wee football league (Snoop Youth Football League) from which a few of today’s NFL players started their love of the game. Kudos, Snoop.

Matthew McConaughey, actor

Favorite Team(s): University of Texas Longhorns (mainly football), Washington Redskins 

Alright, alright, alright up next we have Texas native son, and one of the coolest guys around, Matthew McConaughey. The actor, best known for his iconic roles in ​Dazed and Confused ​and Dallas Buyers Club, ​is as legit as it gets when it comes to sports fanaticism. When he’s not playing naked bongos, he can often be seen on the sidelines at nearly ​every ​Longhorns home game and bowl game cheering them on, most notably the legendary BCS national championship game vs USC in 2006. But the question is, how can someone born right outside of Dallas, deep in the heart of Texas, not be a Cowboys fan but instead be a fan of their most hated rival the Redskins? McConaughey explains this by saying it started with being 4-years-old and watching Westerns with his dad and rooting for the Native Americans to win. Then, a couple years later when his favorite food was hamburgers while at the same time the Redskins had a linebacker by the name of Chris Hamburger, a love affair began that never ended. Arguably the craziest justification I’ve ever heard for rooting for a certain team, but what would you expect from McConaughey? We’ll allow it.

Jerry Seinfeld, actor/comedian

Favorite Team(s): New York Mets

Back to New York City we go. Seinfeld is a pretty huge sports fan overall, and can often be seen at various New York sporting events. But his devotion is solely placed upon the Mets. He’s seen more bad times than good with that franchise, but even in the lean years (so, all of them except maybe two since the year 2000), he can be seen at Mets games, even day games in the middle of the week when Citi Field looks like the loneliest place on Earth.The Mets were also oftentimes a topic of conversation during the entire series run of ​Seinfeld.

Will Ferrell, actor/comedian

Favorite Team(s): USC Fighting Trojans football, Los Angeles Dodgers

Southern California native and USC alum Ferrell has earned his stripes being a devout fan of USC Trojans football, where he can often be spotted on the sidelines during home games, and even practices, especially during the Pete Carroll years. Along with portraying former Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Carey on many occasions, Ferrell has several sports movies on his resumè (​Talladega Nights, Semi-Pro, ​and ​Blades of Glory​, to name a few). He even played in a handful of MLB Spring Training games in 2015. A legit sports fan.

Nicholas Turturro, actor

Favorite Team: New York Yankees

Not nearly as revered in the acting world as his older brother John (who’s been in some of the most classic films of our time), Nick makes this list because his absolute bordering on psychotic, love for the Yankees. So in other words, he’s a lot like myself and many other “regular” folks out there. Seriously, just Google “Nick Turturro Yankees fan”, and you’ll see him in various levels of crazy fan behavior. He doesn’t hold anything back, and if he were just a regular guy, he would easily be the poster child for Stereotypical Annoying Yankees Fan, and that is the best compliment I can give his sports fandom.

Barack Obama, former President of the United States 

Favorite Team(s): Chicago Bulls, Chicago White Sox

The former leader of the free world loves his sports. While President, he was often seen at local pro and college sporting events In Washington, D.C., and at various sporting events around the country. He was never afraid to make it known that, though he was happy for the Cubs finally winning the World Series, he is a White Sox fan first and foremost, showing us even though he’s a politician, he wasn’t going to play both sides with that one. That’s the mark of a true fan right there. An avid basketball player himself (even when he was President), his yearly filling out of the March Madness bracket was must-see tv, and proved that he really knew the game. Bonus points for teams actually wanting to go to the White House when he was POTUS when they won a championship. Cool sports fan factor of 10.

Jack Nicholson, actor

Favorite Teams: Los Angeles Lakers, New York Yankees

Born and raised in New Jersey, the now-retired actor has been a Lakers season-ticket holder since 1970. You can’t think of the iconic “Showtime” Lakers of the 1980’s without also thinking of the iconic Nicholson with sunglasses on sitting courtside, yelling at the refs and cheering on Magic Johnson and company. He wasn’t afraid to go on the road either as he would also show up in enemy territory when the Lakers would take on the Boston Celtics in the finals. He still has those same seats to this day, but getting a little older in age has calmed him down quite a bit. If they make the postseason this year, maybe that old fire will come to the surface again. One could say Nicholson is the first of the true celebrity sports fan, where the celebrity and the team go hand in hand.

Drake, rapper

Favorite Team(s): Toronto Raptors, Kentucky Wildcats, everyone else

Drake gets a lot of grief for bandwagoning onto a lot of different teams, and some of it is warranted, but what can’t be denied is his love of sport. Being someone with such a high profile, he of course is friends with athletes across all sports and he roots for his friends, and sometimes that can look like he’s riding the bandwagon. He reps his hometown and is the official ambassador of his Toronto Raptors. His love for them finally culminated in them winning their first ever NBA championship in 2019, and the “Drake curse” was officially lifted.

Spike Lee, movie director

Favorite Team(s): New York teams, but Knicks most of all

Last but certainly not least (if this was one of those “Top 10” lists, he’d arguably be No. 1), we have New York Knicks superfan Spike Lee. Outside of making some of the most iconic films of modern times, Lee is also famously (some would say infamously) known for sitting in that same courtside seat at The World’s Greatest Arena aka Madison Square Garden from the 1990’s on to today.

And if you think Lee just started showing up because he finally got fame and fortune, think again. He grew up going to Knicks games there in the ‘70s, even witnessing game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals. Arguably his most iconic moment as a sports fan came during a Game 4 loss in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals vs. the Indiana Pacers when he and Pacers guard Reggie Miller engaged in a trash talking back and forth; Miller’s 39-point performance included directing the “choke sign” at Lee, which became an iconic moment in sports history. Knicks fans far and wide to this day blame Lee for that and many other great Miller performances in the Knicks-Pacers rivalry. Either way, Lee’s sports fandom is arguably the greatest of all celebrities.

*Credit to the main photo of this article belongs to Kathy Willens/Associated Press (Lee), Chris Carlson/Associated Press (Crystal), Frank Franklin II/Associated Press (Seinfeld), Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press (Nicholson)