Last night, June 5th, Metallica guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett brought their two-man act back to deliver another electrified version of the national anthem — this time to kick off the NBA Finals Game 3 where the thrashers' home-state team the Golden State Warriors took on the Toronto Raptors at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, CA.
Taking a similar stance and setup as when the duo delivered the "Star-Spangled Banner" back in April for a San Francisco Giants game, Hammett and Papa Het's respective parts complemented one another nicely. The thrashers' spirited delivery was a high point of the night for fans of the California team, as they would go on to lose to Toronto in a 123-109 finish.
Another fun moment came when Hammett was interviewed by ESPN commentators about his role in the game, and the guitarist slipped up and called the Warriors a local baseball team. Some Twitter users had fun with the mistake, commenting "What's he smoking?" and "Somebody get @KirkHammett outta here" as seen below.
All four Metallica members will be reunited this weekend for another European leg of their current WorldWired tour, continuing in Ireland this weekend and running through Germany on August 25th. Find more dates here.
When Kirk Hammett refers to The .@Warriors as a baseball team, I think he's secretly saying "Let's Go .@Raptors!" #AndImOkWithThat #GoRaptors #HeadingToJurassicPark #Toronto #6ix https://t.co/Hdfza7duOW
— Crisis Actor Craig Gass (@craiggasscomedy) June 6, 2019
