Packed in 6 hours: Fans roar on Canadian basketball influencer Matt Kiatipis at Lorong Lew Lian

Canadian basketball influencer Matt Kiatipis created a huge buzz at a basketball court in Lorong Liew Lian, Upper Serangoon, where a 400-strong crowd, mostly made-up of teenagers, roared him on.

The 26-year-old, better known as MK, has built a mass following on Instagram and TikTok with videos of him taking on challengers in one-on-one games at outdoor courts around the world.

He has more than eight million followers on TikTok and Instagram, and generates more than two billion views per month.

Kiatipis announced the event at Lorong Liew Lian on his Instagram account, where he has 3.5 million followers, at around 1pm on Wednesday (Oct 7). Within hours the court was packed.

Chanting "MK, MK", the crowd lapped up every moment of his time on court.

Kiatipis arrived at the venue at about 6.40pm, sporting San Antonio Spurs centre Victor Wembanyama's kit.

"MK" selected several players from the crowd for his one-on-one challenge, during which he reportedly displayed his bold personality, non-stop trash talking, taunts and physical play, giving spectators an entertaining show.

The event ended about an hour later, with the police arriving by around 7.30pm to manage the crowd, according to The Straits Times.

Kiatipis said in an Instagram later that night: “This is getting so crazy. I can’t believe it. Singapore...you filled up the entire court. You filled up the bleachers, people were watching from their (balconies) and we only announced the 1v1 six hours before."

He added that he loved playing in front of everyone so much and updated in a story later that he plans on hosting three more 1v1 events on Oct 9, 10 and 11 while he was in town.

"I have something special planned," wrote Kiatipis in his update.

He said he will also plan a meet and greet so that he could meet everyone that has been supporting him.

The event at Upper Serangoon came a day after Kiatipis' first one-on-one challenge in Singapore at Chinatown Complex’s rooftop court was cancelled due to the massive crowd.

The police also turned up on Oct 6 and reportedly dispersed the crowd from the cancelled event.

In a video posted by The Straits Times, school students in the uniform could be seen climbing onto the chain-link fence around the basketball court.

Kiatipis said his mission is to establish one-on-one basketball as a sport in its own right, separate from the traditional five-a-side and 3x3 formats.

“I’m bringing the community together, playing a new sport (which is) one-on-one. Before, it was like five-on-five in the street, and then I condensed it down to one-on-one, where more people could play," he said.

Singapore is his second stop on his South-east Asia tour, after visiting Jakarta from Oct 1 to 3.

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com

加拿大篮球网红马特·基亚蒂皮斯在实龙岗上段刘莲巷的一个篮球场引起了巨大轰动，现场有 400 多名观众，其中大部分是青少年，为他加油助威。

这位 26 岁的年轻人，更为人熟知的名字是 MK，他在 Instagram 和 TikTok 上发布了自己在世界各地的户外球场与挑战者进行一对一比赛的视频，从而积累了大量粉丝。

他在TikTok和Instagram上拥有超过800万粉丝，每月产生超过20亿次的观看量。

Kiatipis于周三（10月7日）下午1点左右在他的Instagram账号上宣布了在Lorong Liew Lian举行的活动，他的Instagram账号拥有350万粉丝。几个小时内，法院就挤满了人。

观众们高喊着“MK，MK”，尽情享受着他在球场上的每一刻。

基亚蒂皮斯于下午 6 点 40 分左右到达现场，身穿圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·温巴尼亚马的球衣。

“MK”从观众席中挑选了几名球员进行一对一挑战，据报道，在挑战过程中，他展现了自己大胆的个性，不停地喷垃圾话、嘲讽和身体对抗，为观众带来了一场精彩的表演。

据《海峡时报》报道，活动大约一小时后结束，警方于晚上 7 点 30 分左右到达现场维持秩序。

基亚蒂皮斯当晚晚些时候在Instagram上写道：“这太疯狂了。我简直不敢相信。新加坡……你们把整个球场都坐满了。看台也坐满了人，还有人在阳台上观看比赛，而我们仅仅在比赛开始前六个小时才宣布了这场1对1的比赛。”

他还补充说，他非常喜欢在大家面前比赛，并在后来的报道中更新说，他计划在 10 月 9 日、10 日和 11 日在城里期间再举办三场 1v1 比赛。

“我有一个特别的计划，”基亚蒂皮斯在他的最新消息中写道。

他说他还会安排一次见面会，以便能见到所有支持他的人。

在 Kiatipis 于新加坡牛车水大厦屋顶球场举行的首次一对一挑战赛因人潮拥挤而被取消的第二天，上实龙岗球场举办了这场比赛。

10月6日，警方也来到现场，据报道驱散了聚集在已取消活动现场的人群。

《海峡时报》发布的一段视频显示，身穿校服的学生爬上了篮球场周围的铁丝网。

Kiatipis 表示，他的使命是将一对一篮球确立为一项独立的运动，使其与传统的五人制和三人制篮球形式区分开来。

“我正在把社区凝聚在一起，开展一项新的运动——一对一的对抗。以前，街头巷尾都是五对五的对抗，后来我把它简化成一对一，这样更多的人就可以参与其中了。”他说。

新加坡是他东南亚之行的第二站，此前他于 10 月 1 日至 3 日访问了雅加达。

laili.abdeen@asiaone.com