AFL fans amazed as Alastair Clarkson is spotted with basketball superstar Klay Thompson at huge NBA playoff game in America

Former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson made a surprise appearance at the NBA playoffs on Thursday morning.

Eagle-eyed viewers noticed the four-time premiership coach making his arrival at San Francisco’s Chase Centre for Game 5 of the first round series between the Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets.

A video posted by the NBA’s official Twitter account ahead of the game showed Warriors star Klay Thompson arriving at the arena on his bike, before proceeding through security.

Alastair Clarkson (right) briefly appeared in a clip posted on Twitter by the NBA

As he did so, he walked right past Clarkson, who appeared to be loading his bag and belongings through the security scanner.

The footage immediately went viral, with AFL fans and journalists surprised to spot the former Hawks coach on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Clarkson’s 17-year spell with Hawthorn came to a surprise end last year when he parted ways with the club and was replaced by Sam Mitchell.

Following his departure from Hawthorn, Clarkson has been busy working with the state government in Tasmania to secure the AFL’s 19th licence and has previously indicated he would be interested a Tasmanian team in the competition.

Clarkson's presence in the clip tweeted by the NBA caught the eye of many AFL journalists

Clarkson won four premierships in 17 years with Hawthorn before leaving the clubs in 2021

The 53-year-old also revealed he planned to travel to the US to study and research some of the biggest sporting franchises in the world up close.

Clarkson, who led the Hawks to three consecutive premierships between 2013 and 2015 is believed to have worked with Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, with whom he has a friendly relationship.

While he is making the most of his year away from footy, Clarkson hinted he will return to coaching at some point

‘Now that I’ve had this little bit of a break, and it might be longer too, I’m undecided on what I’ll do,’ he told SEN Breakfast last month.

‘I think more than likely I’ll coach again, but given what I’ve experienced over the last six months, there’s some blue sky over the side of this coaching caper.’

If he was in San Francisco to support Golden State, Clarkson will have enjoyed his night as the Warriors beat the Nuggets 102-98 to clinch the series and will now face either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the Memphis Grizzlies in the conference semi-finals.