The boos echoed while new Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia trudged from his courtside seat through the tunnel and toward a private room in the bowels of the Footprint Center.
Mateen Cleaves, Ishbia's longtime friend and guest for the night, walked behind his former Michigan State teammate and offered words of encouragement after the halftime buzzer had sounded on Thursday's Game 6.
"Chest out! Chest out!" Cleaves told Ishbia. "You all right! You all right!"
They returned to Ishbia's seats, located in the corner across from the home bench, and watched the rest of the Suns' elimination game despite the result being a foregone conclusion.