Six Degrees of Paulina Gretzky

Paulina Gretzky knows people. Important people.

From her family to her friends and boyfriend, the Instagram-loving daughter of NHL great Wayne Gretzky is surrounded by big names.

So we decided to do a little experiment and ask ourselves: To what length can we unravel the chain of these celebrity connections of hers? How far down the rabbit hole can six degrees of separation take us with Paulina Gretzky? And how strange can it get?

Is linking Paulina Gretzky to famous people pointless? Yes.

Is it incredibly addictive once you start doing it? Absolutely.

And as you’ll see from the following connections, some gloriously strange links can be made if you know where to look.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Partying—that’s how Paulina Gretzky can be linked to Hall of Fame basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Connecting the Dots:

Paulina Gretzky likes to have a good time with her girls. And this New Year's Eve the 24-year-old posted pictures on Twitter of her ringing in 2013 with good friend Hannah Selleck, the daughter of American actor Tom Selleck.

You might not know it, but before he was helicoptering over the Pacific Ocean in Hawaiian shirts and fighting crime to a funk guitar soundtrack as Magnum P.I., Selleck attended the University of Southern California and was a benchwarmer on the Trojans basketball team.

Selleck played for the Trojans at the time Kareem (then known as Lew Alcindor) was dominating for UCLA under head coach John Wooden. The two teams played each other, obviously, and Selleck says he was often asked to play the role of Abdul-Jabbar during the Trojan’s practices.

Degrees to Paulina: Three

Gretzky meeting Kareem Abdul-Jabbar might very well happen, and if it does I could picture her borrowing his old goggles and shooting a few selfies.

Hugh Hefner

It’s a close connection, but not exactly the one you might imagine.

Connecting the Dots:

Paulina’s mother Janet Jones—a former model and actress—shot a “semi-nude” spread for the March 1987 edition of Playboy, the adult magazine founded by Hefner.

It’s not a mind-blowing long-range connection to be sure, but it could be one that in the future, men are very thankful isn’t a big stretch for Paulina Gretzky.

Degrees to Paulina: Two

Roger Federer

Since she began dating professional golfer Dustin Johnson, Paulina Gretzky’s already vast wealth of athletic acquaintances through her father has expanded that much further. And it’s come to the point where she can now be tied to tennis superstar Roger Federer.

Connecting the Dots:

Gretzky’s relationship with Dustin Johnson brings us to professional golfer Phil Mickelson, who Johnson tied with for second place at the 2011 Open Championship in England.

Mickelson is connected to Tiger Woods, whom Mickelson defeated at the Buick Invitational in 2000, ending a six-consecutive-tournament winning streak for Woods.

Which brings us finally to Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, with whom Woods has done several commercials, including this smarmy cheese-ball of a spot for Gillette.

Degrees to Paulina: Four

She might not ever need to make use of the Federer connection, but judging by her Twitter account, doing things that would push her father into an early grave has to be one of Paulina Gretzky’s favorite pastimes.

And what better way to send dad into heart palpitations than hitting up Tiger Woods for a night out?

John Rhys-Davies

Yes, this one is unlikely. And it's completely possible.

Connecting the Dots:

Paulina Gretzky was cast as a "coed" in the Adam Sandler movie Grown Ups 2, where she has been photographed on set with actress/model Amanda “AJ” Michalka.

Michalka previously played in The Lovely Bones—a film directed by Peter Jackson, who also directed John Rhys Davies as "Gimli" in The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

Degrees to Paulina: Three

Did I just tie Paulina Gretzky to Gimli, son of Gloin, the dwarf from The Lord of the Rings??

What just happened? I blacked out.

Randy Johnson

Think the bird-blasting “Big Unit” can’t be linked back to Paulina Gretzky?

Au contraire, my friend.

Connecting the Dots:

Wayne isn’t the only member of the Gretzky family to see professional success in sports, and this connection begins with Paulina’s brother, Trevor Gretzky.

A multi-sport athlete in high school, Trevor Gretzky was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2011, and is now teammates with left fielder Alfonso Soriano.

The Soriano connection then brings us to former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling, off whom Soriano knocked a home run in the seventh game of the 2001 World Series while playing for the Yankees.

Schilling had been pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks at the time, and ended up splitting the 2001 World Series MVP Award with his teammate Randy Johnson.

Degrees to Paulina: Four

I’m not saying Paulina and Randy will ever meet and become friends. But if they did, she’d probably tweet him something like “You’re so tall! And I hear you don’t like birds! Lol!
And then Johnson would warmly tweet her back "Smiley face."

R. Kelly

Yes, Paulina Gretzky is connected to R&B singer R. Kelly.

Connecting the Dots:

Paulina’s father Wayne Gretzky (I’ll assume you remember him) met his wife Janet Jones while attending a Los Angeles Lakers game with Alan Thicke, who you might remember played the father in the television show Growing Pains.

Turns out, Alan Thicke is the father of musical artist Robin Thicke, who was featured on a song for R. Kelly’s Untitled Album (2009).

Degrees to Paulina: Four

George Lucas

Everyone strap in. We’re going to have to engage warp drive and head straight into the Hollywood galaxy for this one.

PUNCH IT, CHEWIE.

Connecting the Dots:

Paulina’s father Wayne Gretzky was a superstar, and needless to say he’s seen his fair share of moments in the limelight due to his success on the ice.

Among those high-profile exposures was hosting Saturday Night Live in 1989, where Gretzky did a skit with comedian Dennis Miller, who hosted the popular recurring “Weekend Update” segment of the show.

On “Weekend Update,” Miller was joined by Hollywood actor Tom Hanks in this segment, impersonating Miller alongside comedian Dana Carvey.

As the fates would have it, Tom Hanks’ son—Chet Hanks—scored a small bit part in the terrible film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull starring Harrison Ford, who played Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Who directed Star Wars? Bam! George “Sunshine on my cotdamn Deathstar” Lucas.

Degrees to Paulina: Six

It’s a heck of a roundabout journey, but with a little snooping around, and actually spending time looking up Chet Hanks, you can trace a line from Paulina Gretzky to the creator of the Millennium Falcon.

Eazy-E

STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, A SEXY HOCKEY DAUGHTER NAMED GRETZKY.

Ahem, sorry. Couldn’t help myself.

Anyways, Gretzky didn’t exactly "come out of" Compton—more like Cedar-Sinai Medical Hospital in Los Angeles, where she was born.

Connecting the Dots:

But the connection here is Gretzky dressed up as Katy Perry for Halloween this past year (she also follows Perry on Twitter).

And Perry’s song “California Girls” features a rap verse from rapper Snoop Dogg, who also rapped with rapper/beat-maker Dr. Dre, who rapped and produced music for the hip hop group NWA, headed up by late Compton-born rap artist Eazy-E.

Degrees to Paulina: Four

Of course Eazy is gone, but if things had gone differently, I’m sure he would’ve dedicated a lurid and violent album to his girl “G-Money.”

John Belushi

They said “It’s over, Dan. There’s no way you could ever connect the cast of Animal House to Paulina Gretzky.”

To which I replied— “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor??”

Connecting the Dots:

Paulina Gretzky was recently interviewed by Mary Kitchen, an actress and fashionista.

Kitchen has performed in several movies, including playing the role of a news reporter in the 2008 television film True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet directed by Tim Matheson.

Some of you might recall Matheson from his role as Eric “Otter” Stratton in the 1978 comedy Animal House, in which the late John Belushi played his own alter-ego, John Blutarsky.

Degrees to Paulina: Three.

That. Just. Happened.