Anthony Gharib, ESPNDec 20, 2023, 10:54 AM
The Los Angeles Lakers had a furry guest courtside at Monday night's game -- Brodie the dog, an 80-pound goldendoodle.
Wearing an Austin Reaves jersey on-and-off and shifting from sitting in his owner's lap to laying under him, Brodie caught the attention of celebrities and players.
He became the fan of the night at Crypto.com Arena, or as his owner Cliff Brush Jr. clarified "good boy of the night."
"They did a dance off [and] Brodie can move so I knew he was gonna take it," Brush Jr. said. "It was just so funny to watch them cut from one fan to Brodie on the Jumbotron and how like crazy the arena was going."
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart approached Brodie before the game and told Brush Jr. how much he loves Brodie's TikToks and shook his paw. Players whispered and side-eyed Brodie throughout the night.
Two fans sitting courtside across from them made a bet that the 4-year-old dog wasn't real. According to Brush Jr., one spectator believed the pup was a person in a costume. Brush Jr. talked to referees, season ticket holders and TV announcers who all told him that they'd never seen anything like this.
At one point, while running down the court, Brush Jr. said LeBron James did a double take, looking at Brodie then to the basket then back to Brodie.
"I knew it was gonna be a spectacle to a degree," Brush Jr. said. "But, you know, I didn't think it would be as crazy as it kind of went."
By halftime, Brush Jr. knew it was going to be viral. He also added he doesn't know yet if Reaves reached out to him because his DMs have been busy.
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? (@brodiethatdood on ig) pic.twitter.com/60Jko7K3eZ
— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) December 19, 2023
The Lakers jersey sponsor Bibigo invited Brodie to the game. Security escorted them to the court and had fans instantly yelling for photos. Leaving the game wasn't as easy -- Brush Jr. estimated that they took 150 pictures.
Brush Jr. called the head of guest services at Crypto.com Arena earlier Monday to have everything situated prior to the service dog's arrival. The entire process turned out to be smooth with no trouble during the game, a testament to Brodie, who takes multiple flights a month.
"He's so good, you see how he was at the game where he just lays down with his head on the floor, just observing," Brush Jr. said. "He does that on the plane. I mean, the only chaos is when we're walking through the airports and, you know, there's just fan interactions and stuff like that."
Brodie sort of signs autographs too. If it's filmed, Brush Jr. will put the marker in the dog's hand and try to do it. If not, Brush Jr. will draw a paw print and sign it Brodie.
Brush Jr. hand delivered Brodie and also owns the goldendoodle's mom.
An accountant and business consultant prior to the pandemic, Brush Jr. said lots of people started taking videos of Brodie naturally hanging out of the car window so he started to share it on the internet.
"It's a very funny sight... I posted him on TikTok every day, saying post this dog every day till he blows up. Like day 10, he went super viral," Brush Jr. said. "And, ever since then, I posted consistently and then you know, a year in, I resigned from my accounting job and I never looked back."
With nearly 8 million combined followers on Instagram and TikTok and 4.95 million subscribers on YouTube, Brodie has been invited to other sporting events.
In September 2023, he threw the first pitch at a Miami Marlins game.
"Well, it's more of the first fetch," Brush joked. "I threw it and he chased it."
They also sat courtside during warmups of a Miami Heat game once, but never during an entire night like Monday.
It's been a busy last couple of days for Brodie.
Five days ago, Brodie was sworn in as the first honorary member of the Miami Beach Police Department's K-9 unit. After the ceremony, they did a children's hospital visit and participated in a toy drive.
They then flew from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Brodie and Brush Jr. are based, to Los Angeles for an Access Hollywood interview.
The interview was originally going to be focused on Brodie being sworn-in, but the Lakers game became the headline.
Brodie and Brush Jr. will be flying to Toronto on Wednesday for a brand trip. All of the appearances begs the question: Is Brodie tired?
"Leaving the arena took like over an hour and that was what got him exhausted. But he napped it off. He's good to go," Brush Jr. said. "He's used to this life like he loves attention. He loves energy. He loves the environment. So he's built for this."
