WASHINGTON \u2014 What happens when an NBA franchise conducts a staged April Fools\u2019 Day skit that seems so real \u2014 and so mean \u2014 that it makes the franchise appear as if it pulled a cruel prank on one of its fans? Just ask the Washington Wizards.<\/p>\n
In the face of widespread backlash, it turns out, the joke\u2019s on them.<\/p>\n
The Wizards issued a public apology Thursday, approximately 16 hours after their game-night presentation crew appeared to trick a blindfolded fan into thinking he\u2019d won $10,000 for making a half-court shot.<\/p>\n
A Monumental Basketball spokesperson told The Athletic on Thursday that the three \u201cfans\u201d who attempted half-court shots are friends of Monumental Sports & Entertainment employees and were in on the joke. Monumental Sports & Entertainment is the company that includes the Wizards, the NHL\u2019s Washington Capitals and the WNBA\u2019s Washington Mystics.<\/p>\n
However, that wasn\u2019t clear at the time of the skit, or in the intervening hours before the team\u2019s apology.<\/p>\n
The skit occurred during halftime of the Wizards\u2019 eventual 153-131 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers at Capital One Arena on the evening of April Fools\u2019 Day. Three people who were said to be fans from the audience were brought onto the court and blindfolded to take shots from the half-court logo, with a member of the Wizards\u2019 game-night crew holding an oversized check with \u201cTen thousand\u201d and \u201c$10,000\u201d scrawled on it.<\/p>\n
After the first two participants missed their shots, one more \u201cfan\u201d<\/a> took his shot.<\/p>\n \u201cJackson, it\u2019s all on you,\u201d the Wizards\u2019 in-game host, Britt Waters, told the so-called fan, who was being blindfolded by the Wizards\u2019 furry blue mascot, G-Wiz. \u201cThis might be history if you get this done. For $10,000!\u201d<\/p>\n A drumroll played, and Jackson\u2019s shot missed the rim and the backboard.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, my!\u201d Waters yelled. Sound effects played over the public-address system, and G-Wiz and other mascots from out-of-town teams \u2014 including the Montreal Canadiens\u2019 Youppi, the Denver Nuggets\u2019 Rocky and the Detroit Tigers\u2019 Paws \u2014 converged on Jackson to celebrate.<\/p>\n \u201cSomebody\u2019s rich! The mascots are going crazy!\u201d Waters continued. \u201cThe contestant\u2019s going crazy! Jackson, oh, my gosh! You didn\u2019t see it. We all saw it. Do you want to see it?\u201d<\/p>\n The arena\u2019s video board replayed the shot, and Waters said, \u201cYou go up with it right here, and you see how it just doesn\u2019t \u2026 it doesn\u2019t actually go in.\u201d<\/p>\n G-Wiz then took the oversized check from Jackson\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n Footage from the skit spread throughout social media on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cTo do this to a fan that chose to come see a 17-win team is unhinged,\u201d Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is so on-brand for the Wizards season. Finding new ways to offend their (few) fans,\u201d Andrew Brandt, a Villanova University law school professor, former sports agent and former NFL team executive, wrote on X.<\/a><\/p>\n