Sydney Thomas swapped the boxing ring for the basketball court on Saturday night after heading to Atlanta to take in her first ever NBA game.
The stunning ring girl, who went viral after stealing the show at the controversial Mike Tyson vs Jake Paul fight last month, enjoyed VIP treatment as the Atlanta Hawks took on the Miami Heat at State Farm Arena.
Along with a mystery friend, Thomas, 21, could be seen watching the game in luxury courtside seats courtesy of beer brand Michelob Ultra, who enjoy a partnership with the Hawks.
The team shared a photo of her at courtside on social media during the game, before Thomas quoted it and said: ‘First NBA game’ along with a tick emoji.
Atlanta went on to secure a 120-110 victory over Miami thanks to a 28-point haul by Jalen Johnson. De’Andre Hunter also scored 26 points.
Thomas rose to fame by working as a ring girl when Paul, 27, controversially got the better of a 58-year-old Tyson in a fight that drew 60million viewers on Netflix, and her popularity has continued to rise since.
Sydney Thomas swapped the boxing ring for the basketball court on Saturday night
The stunning ring girl enjoyed VIP treatment as the Atlanta Hawks took on the Miami Heat
Thomas watched the game in luxury courtside seats courtesy of beer brand Michelob Ultra
The Tuscaloosa girl now has over one million followers on TikTok and close to a million on Instagram, all the while she still attends the University of Alabama.
She was back in boxing mode earlier this month after showing off her blue and black ring-girl attire for Antonio Vargas’ bantamweight contest against Winston Guerrero in Orlando, Florida.
Thomas captioned the post: ‘Your favourite ring girl is back. Catch me in the ring again tomorrow on DAZN.’
Before that fight she opened up on her newfound fame – claiming her number of Instagram followers has quadrupled.
‘I had 220,000 on Instagram [before Paul-Tyson] and now I’m at like 800,000,’ she told Most Valuable Promotions. ‘And on TikTok I had like 600,000, and now I’m at 1.1 million. So pretty much doubled all around.’
Thomas went on to credit Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions company with helping to launch her career.
‘By giving me the platform and the opportunity to be on Netflix and also just to come to events like this, meet really cool people and network,’ she explained.
‘The doors that it has opened has been huge. So big thanks to MVP for that because they’re the best.’
