PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A pint-size Phoenix Suns fan who received global attention for his popcorn-eating skills and cute smile got the VIP treatment at Friday’s Suns game on Friday.
Three-year-old Sterling went viral on social media when he was spotted on the jumbotron before the Suns-Pacers game on Nov. 13, eating popcorn out of a bucket bigger than his head. After a few seconds, he realized he was on the screen, smiled and waved.
The video has gotten more than 50 million views on social media, according to the Suns.
Sterling and his dad, Christopher, were back at Mortgage Matchup Center, where they got up close to the pregame warmups and interacted with other fans.
When Arizona’s Family asked Sterling courtside about his newfound social media fame, he was a little shy. “I was eating popcorn!” he said.
Sterling agreed the popcorn was good and wants some more. “I did a lot,” the boy said.
For Christopher, it’s been a wild ride since last week.
“We went to the game, went on vacation. And on our way home, we started getting text messages. And I don’t have any social media. So my wife had to create a TikTok account just to watch the video. And I mean, just everyone reaching out. ‘That’s you. That’s Sterling. That’s you. What’s going on?’ And so we still didn’t know what that really meant,” he said.
Christopher said he didn’t know what the definition of going viral really was until this week. “So exciting, I think. Scary. Everything. But he’s been a champ. He’s been doing really well with it,” he said.
His father said Sterling has always had that cute personality, “It’s just like so natural,” Christopher said.
Christoper has one girl and four boys. He said the special treatment the Suns provided for the family has been a great experience.
“It’s been nice. It takes that for all of us to get to a game. It’s kind of nice to just not be squished in the seats, you know, the whole time and chasing kids, walking over people and throwing popcorn at everybody. So thank you to everyone who’s gotten popcorn thrown at you. You didn’t get mad at us. Sorry,” he said.
The Suns host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday as the start to a three-game homestand.
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