Jackie Moon just came out of retirement for the Warriors on Tuesday night.
The Golden State Warriors were in need of a light-hearted Tuesday night. Lucky for them, Jackie Moon was there to save the day.
Will Ferrell, who iconically played Moon in the 2008 comedy "Semi-Pro," made an appearance in full character Tuesday night, participating in warmups with the Warriors, and even shoot-arounds. I tried to defend the players.
"He actually emailed me a while back," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. "He's a big fan of Klay Thompson and he knows how much Klay loves to dress up as Jackie Moon ... It felt like the right time to do it to make everyone laugh."
The character of Jackie Moon in particular is a favorite of Klay Thompson. Thompson has gone so far as to warm up in a Moon Flint Tropics jersey paying tribute to the under-handed free throw shooting star.
Thompson also requested a new washing machine before the NBA trade deadline - a reference to Moon trading washing machines to get a player in the movie.
According to Thompson, he often looked "semi-pro" during his rehab, in order to keep his spirits high amidst the toughest days. Seeing his silver-screen hero clearly helped on Tuesday night as well as Thompson dropped 20 points on his way to breaking Golden State's five-game losing streak.
"We're in a tough position with all these L's that we're piling on," said Warriors star Klay Thompson. "I was happy to see Jackie [Moon] ... I appreciate her coming out."
According to Kerr, when Ferrell emailed her earlier in the season, she couldn't believe it was actually him. How did he confirm the identity of the actor, you ask?
"I asked him a series of questions that only he would know," Kerr said. "He insisted it was him."