TD Garden has seen many stars take part in these playoffs, from Guy Fieri and Ed Sheeran to David Ortiz and Drake May.
There were bound to be some big names in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
Though Ortiz and May were absent, plenty of sports stars were in attendance for the game, in which the Celtics jumped out to a big early lead over the Mavericks. Many NFL players were in attendance, but members of the Patriots weren't the only ones in attendance to watch the Eastern Conference champions defeat Dallas.
From coaches to players and even executives, sports fans won't have to look far to find familiar faces at TD Garden.
Here's a list of players to watch for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday.
Read more: Why Kyrie Irving left the Celtics in 2019
Celebrities at Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals
The NBA has released the list of celebrities who will be attending Game 1 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden. Below is that list, along with some of the other notables who were spotted inside the venue on Thursday.
| Celebrities | title |
| Mark Wahlberg | actor |
| Donnie Wahlberg | actor |
| Jenny McCarthy | actress |
| Kenny Anderson | Former Celtics player |
| Geno Auriemma | UConn Women's Basketball Coach |
| Dana Barros | Former Celtics player |
| A.J. Brown | Eagles players |
| Dallas Goedert | Eagles players |
| Brandon Graham | Eagles players |
| Jalen Hurts | Eagles players |
| Jeffrey Lurie | Eagles Owner |
| Jordan Mailata | Eagles players |
| Devonta Smith | Eagles players |
| Darius Slay | Eagles players |
| Zdeno Chara | Former Bruins player |
| Andre Drummond | Bulls players |
| Max Crosby | Raiders players |
| Tako Fall | Former Celtics player |
| Pep Guardiola | Manchester City manager |
| Eddie House | Former Celtics player |
| Anphenee Jennings | Patriots players |
| Jonathan Jones | Patriots players |
| Matt Judon | Patriots players |
| Keion White | Patriots players |
| Christian Wilkins | Raiders players |
| Cam Neely | Bruins Chairman, Hall of Famer |
| Shaquille O'Neal | NBA Legends |
| Terrell Owens | NFL Hall of Fame |
| Leon Poe | Former Celtics player |
| Duncan Robinson | Heat players |
| Jason Terry | Former NBA player |
| Dana White | UFC President |
The Wahlbergs are always there whenever the Celtics have a major game, but the sports world took special notice during Game 1, when several members of the Philadelphia Eagles were in attendance, along with UFC president Dana White, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and legendary UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma.
Here's what you need to know heading into Game 1 for the Eagles.
Read more: The origins of the Celtics nickname explained
Why are the Eagles in the NBA Finals?
The Eagles are not known to have held any events in Boston on Thursday — in fact, they held a mandatory minicamp in the Philadelphia area earlier in the day — so it's likely that some members of the team made the trip to Boston for Game 1 along with owner Jeffrey Lurie.
Why? It may be because of Lurie's Boston connection. Lurie was born in Boston and earned degrees from three Massachusetts universities: Clark University, Boston University, and Brandeis University. Lurie was also an adjunct professor at Boston University before entering the business world.
Lurie's prized possession is the Philadelphia Eagles, with whom he had a mini-rivalry late in the season in 2004 and 2017 when they faced the Patriots in the Super Bowl. While that may have created some awkwardness for Lurie, it's clear he cares about the Celtics dearly, enough that he returned to Boston with some of the Eagles' most important players.
