'Popcorn Kid' Goes Viral for His Adorably Shy Appearance on the Jumbotron at Phoenix Suns Game

Sterling is a star!

The three-year-old Phoenix Suns fan went viral earlier in the month for eating popcorn out of a bucket larger than his head during an innocently cute moment that ultimately wound up on the Jumbotron at the Suns-Pacers game on Nov. 13.

As a result, the Internet spiraled into a tizzy over the adorable encounter with Sterling, who didn't know he was on the big screen until he finally looked up from his popcorn bucket, and gave a shy smile and wave to the cameras.

The video to date has more than 50 million views on social media, according to the Suns.

On Nov. 21, Sterling made his grand return to the stadium to watch the Phoenix Suns take on the Minnesota Timberwolves. To no surprise, he stole the hearts of the thousands of fans at the Mortgage Matchup Center (and the millions online upon his second viral moment).

His popcorn-eating skills and cute smile were put on full display when he was featured on the Jumbotron once again, which prompted a roar of cheers from the onlookers at the game in the first quarter with three minutes left on the clock.

"Look who's in the house," was the text that flashed on the screen before showing the pint-sized fan, as seen in a video shared by the Suns on social media.

"The cutie pie who won America's hearts with a simple smile when attending his first Suns game... 50 million views across social media, please welcome back Sterling and his entire family!" says the commenter at the game.

"Everyone in their section is also getting free popcorn!" the announcer added, flashing the screen to Sterling who was drinking out of a large soda cup with — of course — a large bucket of popcorn on his lap.

Sterling hammed it up for the camera this time, too, throwing a wink to the screen to conclude his big moment. The crowd, naturally, went crazy.

The young fan also got the special treatment upon his return to the arena. In a video shared by the Suns on X, Sterling was gifted a jersey and a foam finger before heading down to the court, where he got an up-close view for pre-game warm ups.

Sterling's dad, Christopher, spoke with Arizona Family about his son's newfound fame.

"We went to the game, went on vacation. And on our way home, we started getting text messages," he recalled of the first viral moment. "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," he continued. "‘That’s you? That’s Sterling! That’s you. What’s going on?’ And so we still didn’t know what that really meant... So exciting, I think. Scary. Everything. But he’s been a champ. He’s been doing really well with it."