Actor Simu Liu was over the moon about getting his chance to shine on the basketball court at the Huntsman Center on Friday.
Before the game, the star of Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” expressed his love of Utah even if the elevation left him winded after a quarter of play. (“I feel like such a professional athlete because I get to talk about the air,” he joked.)
But it seems his experience was soured by an in-game celebrity look-alike feature on the jumbotron. The Canadian actor, who was born in China, was shown on the Huntsman Center video board next to an unsuspecting fan who also appeared to be Asian.
Liu did not take kindly to that.
“I had a great time but this wasn’t cool,” Liu tweeted.
The multiple “cams” at arenas around the country are meant to be fun and engage the fans during timeouts. But Liu was clearly offended that the moment including him incorporated the race of him and the fan.
Liu later clarified his comment on Twitter: “to be perfectly clear the entire org and ops team surrounding all-star have been nothing but absolutely stellar to myself and all my friends. this was just one person with a camera. and no disrespect to my man in the videotron either! he’s gorgeous we just don’t look alike”.
The NBA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A University of Utah spokesperson said the NBA is handling all game operations at the Huntsman Center this weekend.
