Charlotte Hornets apologize after PS5 taken from 13-year-old after on-court giveaway

[@JAPARICAN50-50]

They only owned up for what they did because of the severe backlash they received

[@TexasTexas-d9g]

Exactly

[@toontownlegomaster]

These nba teams have so much money to pretend to give a ps5 and take it back to give you a jersey is whack

[@jkellum1772]

Crazy work

[@cheesesteakphilly]

Even at the end, he said that he would’ve been happy if they just gave the jersey first instead of the bait-and-switch.

[@lamar310]

Dumbest contest ever...who wants to scam kids? This was a terrible idea especially during Christmas season

[@thegamingchef3304]

Like that dude that hit that million dollar shot at a Bulls game. They searched high and low trying to find a loop hole not to give the guy the money. They found out he played basketball at some Junior college and said because he played organized ball he wasn't eligible and didn't want to pay him. I think it took Michael Jordan actually stepping in and saying he made the shot fair and square so pay him...And they did.

[@Cmoneybabyy]

They made it right because of the criticism, not because they felt bad.

[@Noobowner094]

FR if it didn’t go viral they wouldn’t have cared. They’re just saving face now

[@Justin-uc8sc]

Nothing gets by you

[@Cmoneybabyy]

@@Justin-uc8sc are you upset you're looking the way you do? I'm sorry, that must suck

[@Cmoneybabyy]

@@Justin-uc8sc or was it that i stole ya girl without trying?

[@steelswitch1245]

I don’t understand, what was the point of pretending these people were given gifts? So stupid.

[@ibapreppie]

For tv

[@Hknasw]

Did they think nobody would say anything? Like the parents were going to just keep quiet?

[@Anthony-Soprano]

For clout

[@sergeant1446]

To increase ticket sales, to make people want to come to games, thinking they'll get lucky as well.

[@Hknasw]

@@sergeant1446 Did they not account for people leaking that they did not actually get the gifts they won? Like nobody thought of that issue. People are going to talk and complain. Corporate greediness

[@da_ghoul9432]

What was the point on the on court experience, we give a fake gift and exchange it for a cheap kid's jersey?

[@1juanmtz21]

Point was to look good in front of the cameras and fans while actually being trash. Had they not gotten caught you can bet they wouldn’t have stuck to the lie

[@tiny_mushroom9955]

A ps5 is literally pennies to them wtf

[@davidlynch5531]

Literally not even pennies. They already had the ps5 on hand. It was a sunk cost at that point. Unless you factor in opportunity cost. Some dude on the Hornets staff must have thought that ps5 could be put to better use elsewhere…like in his office

[@marcvaldelara]

​@@davidlynch5531exactly. He didnt think people would find out??? Lol

[@rakeem176]

Cheap hornets they got millions that ps5 is nothing to them

[@passo]

They get 100's of them free from the people who own Rockstar games because they basically fund there rights to make all the 2k basketball games. GTA 6 drops next year, so all the NBA players and teams will likely get free PS5's new just because of promo. Then get more when 2k26 drops. I can bet those ps5's were just throwaways from just a few months ago when the new 2k came out. But let me not get to realistic 😂😂.

[@NoodleMcnoodle]

I bet the employee that took the PS5 back wanted to give it to his own son or nephew or keep it for himself! 🤣

[@Elburion]

that's exactly what happened.

[@trutty]

This really shows how disconnected the uber-rich are from the rest of society.

[@TherosSoultaker]

Why pretend to give them a PS5? There is no reason to intentionally deceive everyone, so why do it? He's absolutely right, everyone would have been just as excited if they offered the jersey.

[@tornoofo17]

Optics

[@RickAg29]

Thie whole "skit" doesn't even make sense.

[@Dats_dope]

It’s. Lie

[@tornoofo17]

Lie. Is.

[@themusers03]

What a joke of an organization.

[@JamesJiansen]

Joke of an organization. If this doesn't make the city of Charlotte boycott this shifty team, I don't know what will.

[@xijinpooh8210]

Michael Jordan's getting broke.

[@TurtlEfrmdaManor]

@@xijinpooh8210Micheal Jordan isn’t the majority owner anymore genius he sold his shares to Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall last year go find another rich black successful man to try and 💩 on weirdo dude 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@wavybaby999]

😂😂😂​@@xijinpooh8210

[@shiinzaemon895]

​@@xijinpooh8210Michael Jordan does not own the team. He sold his stake over a year ago.

[@CornellD.Cavendish]

​@@xijinpooh8210He already sold the hornets, he would make this right if he still owned it

[@IceTealol1]

Imagine a company that makes over 100mill probably is to cheap to give a kid a ps5. if you dont want to do that then dont do that stuff

[@satori9105]

Way over 100mil is the real problem

[@RomnysGonzalez]

308 Million exactly is what they make the past season

[@IceTealol1]

@@RomnysGonzalez wtf

[@nopenope3678]

Oh no we should leave the multi million dollar company alone

[@donte8212]

Why would they take it back? What would they do with it?

[@joedavis1431]

Have the company buy it and “give it away “ then personally keep it for yourself!! Then write it off as charitable donation! Nobody will question it!

[@thechubbyarchive]

they just wanted to get some good pr without actually doing a good thing. i am glad this backfired on them and the kid got his ps5 and a bonus.

[@tom11zz884]

Give it to someone in their organization.

[@doubaya2959]

they will return it to bestbuy and get a refund.

[@sassylrhg]

I will NEVER take my family to another Hornets game.

[@daviddeming1916]

To pretend to give a kid something live like that is just shameful!! Cheap asses

[@NY_7]

Who's the genius that actually thought this would be a good idea and would go over well? How does someone that dumb actually get a job for a billion dollar NBA team?

[@rickytib]

THANK YOU! I have been saying the same thing. The person that made the decision to do this should not be working there.

[@dappolajon7008]

Im literally thinking the same exact thing wich college educated jabroni really thought this was a good idea

[@crypticpainter7643]

Someone needs to get fired for thinking it would be a good idea to dangle a PS5 in front a kid so messed up.

[@uppertroupe]

Holy damn that is sad, a multi million dollar team is so cheap that they can’t buy mass amounts of ps5s. Kind of crazy to think about they are trying to save money by doing this but will continue to raise the prices of everything and we can’t complain

[@RomnysGonzalez]

MULTI BILLION. They are worth 3.3BILLION DOLLARS and earned 300M during the 2023-24 season

[@itjechnician]

Then don't go. Make them lose billions. People have terrible purchase power literacy

[@tom11zz884]

Shame that the media has to always get involved for the Hornets organization to give that kid his PS5. SHAMEFUL

[@sherryadams7378]

The CEO should fire those who came up with this absurdity. Shaming them? Not possible. Stop attending their games.

[@LifeAfter1991]

This is so weird. Like a fake gift? They could have just handed out jerseys to start with. Nobody would have blinked.

[@johnathonshaver4143]

Ya'll need to realize when we come together we make accountability happen. Bargain together and stand in solidarity.

[@dorionkeeno9367]

That's why the Hornets are like 3-18 and have been for years.

[@kyle-commentsonbullsh_it]

They pay $356875457885588 to players. But a PS5.... cost way to much. Take it back. SHAME ON NBA...AGAIN!

[@mikeyyoon]

What a goddamn joke of a billion dollar organization...

[@BrandyBrandalia]

Billion dollar organization messing with a kid over a $500 PS5. Sickening.

[@Yenkala247]

You gave a Christmas present to a child and then snatched it up. That's absolutely insane!

[@stevenbeaubien]

Whoever made the conscious decision to take the PS5 away and not actually let them keep it as a prize should be fired.

[@squaresided]

Sounds like a bum worker wanted a free ps5 and swapped it with a jersey but still had to pretend to give the free ps5 away.. classic

[@jyp523]

I concur!

[@M3Vader]

Whoever in charge of media wanted that ps5 for Christmas 😂😂

[@EdgerunnerGamingHD]

And this right here is why I consider the Charlotte Hornets the laughing stock of the NBA. I can't believe there are people that actually take this franchise seriously.

[@vladimirsmith4416]

Someone on the PR team list their job... right before Christmas too...🤦🏿‍♂️ ps5 aint even hard to find right now...

[@RomnysGonzalez]

308 million U.S. dollars... That's what the hornets earned during the 23-24 season... 3.3B worth of the franchise itself... You gonna tell me they can't spare 500 freaking bucks to give a kid a damn PS5

[@tylaw6173]

Definitely! Like it wasn't hard being a Hornets fan in the first place smh

[@1SoccerNation]

I was at this game and was so happy for the kid. the hornets should be ashamed

[@sherryadams7378]

They probably aren't.

[@dariusandrews4490]

They took back a PS5? thats insane

[@c523jw7]

Why would you even try to get away with something as stingy as this. This is beyond cheap 😂

[@DEichenberg]

That's absolutely revolting. Given how much you pay those players, how much tickets cost, all the merch... how freaking scrooge can you be?

[@JoeCnNd]

If you were gonna give them a jersey, you should have just did that instead.

[@707ridah]

Players gets millions but can't give a kid a 400$ PS5.. this is why other counties HATE US

[@juliohernandez9372]

What a disgraceful thing to do!

[@Doobsnackz]

Mean while their losing team cost how much?

[@POOH-bear-2407]

This is why viewership is down bad for the NBA

[@danedefense2046]

They got millions to pay these players but not $400 for a ps5 😂

[@SATX271]

2024 out here tryin to squeeze out the last of it's absurdity before 2025😂

[@brandnuent.3437]

He's about to get a full scholarship from Sony, a new ps5 with all the fixings and a GoFundMe

[@nukataco]

I mean, if they wanted to do just a jersey giveaway, couldn't they have done that on the court? Hornets telling on themselves on how worthless they view their own jerseys are.

[@DMalltheway]

Especially when LaMelo asks out

[@justinlethco7562]

Dude wtf is going on with the world.. did they think they’ll wouldn’t get exposed

[@ThreePinkBananas]

A billionaire company can’t give a boy a PS5.. GREED IS AT AN ALL TIME HIGH 😂

[@randallwinters7387]

"give a" They have no obligation to "give" anything. The takers like you are the greedy ones.🙄

[@ThreePinkBananas]

@ sorry was I not politically correct enough for you? Should I use the word “gift” instead? So sensitive 😂

[@MrTensai100]

@@randallwinters7387 it's true they don't have to give anything but why pretend that they were giving away a ps5?

[@scribbles1424]

This sounds like some employees pulling a scam. Normally giving a jersey would be what they'd do if that was the whole setup. An employee was trying to rip people off.

[@LilBrownieD]

That makes sense too

[@thechubbyarchive]

so they did a fake giveaway just so they could get some good PR but they never actually intended to give the PS5 away wtf then just dont do the giveaway like how did anyone think this was gonna go well. and then they expected the kids an parents to just be cool with a jersey lol ok kid trade us this cool gaming system for a shirt like yeah no even if they had told me this before hand i still would have made a stink about it. if your giving away a ps5 your giving away a ps5 no bait and switch stuff.

[@sonicfromsouth]

That gave a sting!

[@maxpower2511]

Why did they have a PS5 there to begin with anyway?

[@blu3_jay20]

This is actually my friend! I’m so glad that they’re making it right, even if it’s only because of the backlash

[@danielthompson3928]

Tell me that you are a clout chasing organization that isn’t worth what you are trying to sell without telling me you’re a clout chasing organization that isn’t worth what you are trying to sell:

[@bridgetteouh7037]

I wonder what happens behind closed doors where no-one is filming tho

[@newmexicoballer3867]

Disgusting act of betrayal to a fan.

[@Dabeachguy]

The Charlotte Hornets only owned up because they got caught 😂

[@cmdgabe336]

Nobody wants a hornets jersey lol

[@xIIsTReeTIIx]

To convince more kids to get their parents to bring them to games so they could have a chance to win a ps5 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@legendarycinematics3091]

The NBA is notorious for this bullshit. Don’t do the competition if you aren’t prepared for a win. Also ticket sales alone for that game far paid for that $500 console. I honestly haven’t watched an NBA game in years I used to love the sport but it’s so brutal these days

[@ibapreppie]

Not a competition. Was a giveaway

[@mr.clarence5548]

Don’t promise if you cant provide 🤦🏿‍♂️

[@randallwinters7387]

You'll never get laid that way.😂

[@hybrid-crossfade-mixes7789]

They don't want to look bad and get a lot of backlash. So, of course, after the story goes viral, they have to make it right for everyone to see and not look like the bad guys. A little too late for that.

[@ibapreppie]

That's against the law you can't say you are giving away a ps5 and grt a jersey instead

[@Salty.Peasants]

Where's the Mario Bros when you need them? Luigi would have settled this problem and made things right. 😁

[@furyspec]

Considering how much profit they make in one night, yet they are cheap when it comes to giving away a 500 dollar prize is pretty terrible, not to mention you're doing it to a child. I'm curious if people bought like a dollar ticket for the giveaway, which is usually the case. That would be way worse, cause they are keeping the giveaway ticket entry money.

[@southernmonarchist6550]

I quit watching all sports when the kneeling and woke crap started, this just reminds me that I made the right choice.

[@nickramirez5670]

Yeah, that would make me pretty sad for that kid. I’m glad they are making it right!

[@thegamingchef3304]

Man Hugo and that Gorilla for the suns were my favorite mascots during the mascot dunk contest back in the 90s.

[@deadfairfield]

But they charge $12 for a Bud Light haha

[@nopenope3678]

Hornet: that my ps5 now kid

[@safemoonboricua7172]

That hornet should be colored green just like the Grinch.

[@kclange8231]

Ellen did the same thing to my grandma with a keg of Jack Daniel’s. It was given to her on air, she went back home and told a local animal shelter that was needing help she’d donate it to them to auction, and never heard a thing. My ma reaching out to the show but they ghosted her.

[@MikeSchellingMusic]

I’m glad the Hornets Organization made good on this. But what an ill conceived promotion right? That person should be demoted to t-shirt launches, even that might be beyond their capacity 😅😅😅

[@obiwankesnowbi9807]

Damn, the Hornets really stung that f*** up badly. 😂

[@Unmutual-23]

Wait, so the gift giving was actually just an act that was planned for months and nobody told the kid? This is almost as bad as local news stations doing commercials under the guise of news stories. You can't trust anybody in America anymore. Time to switch off the screens.

[@Videogamelover58]

I hope this franchise never wins an Championship

[@esils]

Props for an on court play? I dont get the purpose of pretending with ps 5

[@monstamack93]

Wow wtf 😂 all that damn money they make

[@thelonewolf7443]

Didn’t know the Hornets were facing Miami ON TOP OF Philadelphia at Halftime. 😅

[@danield6084]

Sounds like something the Flint Tropics would've pulled

[@KobeGrant-b2h]

😂😂😂😂

[@divemasterben]

Charlotte Hornets need to fire whomever made the original decision to do the switcheroo! That's F'd-up!

[@skyfall9549]

The nba cheap ass really took the ps5 away from the kid and gave hime a jersey

[@gloominonion]

Pretty much sums the NBA up perfectly

[@sixpacksae]

How mentally challenged do you have to be to set up something like this? Fire whoever came up with this immediately

[@Elburion]

Someone that worked the event wanted the PS5 so they made up an excuse to exchange it.

[@RhonteaBennett-xo3if]

They have billions. A PS5? You kidding me?

[@massdistractions]

Wow. That's all I've got about these weirdo's that put themselves out into the world like this.

[@workbirdygaming]

All that money they are pulling in 😂😂😂 bait and switch my a$$

[@africasupreme3]

The economy is getting crazy when a billion dollar franchise must do the bait and switch with kids

[@warrenleezy]

Merry Grinchmas 😅😂😅

[@thegamingchef3304]

Like that dude that hit that million dollar shot at a Bulls game. They searched high and low trying to find a loop hole not to give the guy the money. They found out he played basketball at some Junior college and said because he played organized ball he wasn't eligible and didn't want to pay him. I think it took Michael Jordan actually stepping in and saying he made the shot fair and square so pay him...And they did.

[@majorhurricane3712]

Jackie moon owns the hornets?

[@yourpapi4816]

Classic tax evaluation or shady employee trying to pull one off on the team claiming kids kept PS5 and he takes them for himself. That guy probably got fired after this BS

[@MysteryShitShuffler]

Fake giving gifts to look nice for tv and still asking for the gift back from a kid is crazy lol like how stingy big companies gotta be all the damn time

[@David-qk7um]

Swapping a PS5 for $20.00 Jersey. That's cheap.

[@GuiltyGearX104]

All these rich people with money being cheap sakes geez bro. This is America.

[@shogunzay]

The jersey would have been worth more if it was signed.

[@MikeMcLin]

I wonder if the employee might have tried to scam the kid for the PS5, and the team fired them privately to avoid ruining their life. Otherwise, this doesn’t make sense.

[@itsPhD]

this sounds so illegal?

[@eliterolo]

They only sorry because they got exposed. Also like the dude said. They coulda have just giving him the jersey from the get go and it woulda have been fine. Also for a NBA team that makes millions a year. I don’t think a few hundreds would hurt them.