A basketball has received huge amounts of criticism online after pretending to give a PlayStation 5 to a child before immediately taking it from him.
Charlotte Hornets, who currently sit 13th out of 15 in the Eastern Conference, invited children on to the court during a break in play in the second quarter of the Monday night (December 16) game against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Its mascot, Hugo the hornet was sat on a chair dressed as Santa Claus for the Christmas season, and was handing gifts over to young fans who had written a letter addressed to St. Nick.
One of those kids had asked for a PS5, and so after a presenter read out his letter, a cheerleader handed a bag to the mascot who took out the console and presented it to him.
The young man couldn't believe his luck that he'd received the gift and well, apparently he shouldn't have as a member of the NBA team's staff then snatched the present off him immediately after exiting the court and instead replaced it with a jersey.
The video posted on social media by a friend of the child's uncle, who took his nephew to the game, exchanged texts with his friends during the night to explain what had just happened to the young boy.
NBA side Charlotte Hornets pretended to give a child a PS5 before snatching it off him when the cameras weren't on him (X/@StanUsmnt)
"They took it away from him haha," his uncle messaged. "And just gave him a jersey. It was super awkward."
According to the friend, the kid was 'crushed'.
Once news spread to Twitter, users were less than impressed.
"Mannn that’s bogus as hell," one person wrote, while another said: "Bro what?! That’s shameful."
And a third commented: "Disgusting. Just give the jersey publicly don’t front like you’re giving some amazing gift."
The Hornets have since released a statement claiming that their staff pretending to give a child a PS5 before snatching it off him was all part of a 'skit'.
It read: "During last night's game there was an on-court skit that missed the mark. The skit included bad decision making and poor communication. Simply put, we turned the ball over and we apologize.
The team has since apologized (Twitter/USMT_Stan)
"We have reached out to the family and are committed to not only making it right but to exceeding expectations. We will be providing the fan with the PS5 that he should have taken home last night along with a VIP experience to a future game.
"Our goal is and will remain to elevate the guest experience for every person that enters Spectrum Center, and to show our fans how much we appreciate their relentless support."
English (US) ·