{"id":695014,"date":"2026-04-03T01:21:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695014\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T01:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:21:34","slug":"wizards-issue-apology-as-april-fools-prank-goes-horribly-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695014\/","title":{"rendered":"Wizards issue apology as April Fools&#8217; prank goes horribly wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The last-place Wizards can\u2019t even do <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/04\/01\/lifestyle\/how-april-fools-day-is-celebrated-around-the-world\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aprils Fools\u2019 Day<\/a> right.<\/p>\n<p>The team played a gag on a fan during its tilt with the 76ers on Wednesday night, and when nobody found the bit funny, Washington officials actually issued an apology on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe missed the mark,\u201d the Wizards admitted.<\/p>\n<p>The skit went down during a break in the action at Capital One Arena in D.C.<\/p>\n<p>A man was blindfolded, and told by an in-arena emcee that if he drained a half-court shot, he\u2019d win $10,000. <\/p>\n<p>The guy didn\u2019t even hit the backboard after letting the ball fly from his hands, but everyone on the court \u2014 including multiple mascots \u2014 raced in to pretend as if he sunk it.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.79334501;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38975104\" width=\"1024\" height=\"571\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/000-clip-since-gone-viral-124902975.jpg\" alt=\"A fan posing for a photo with the Washington Wizards mascots and a fake check for $10,000 for an April Fool's Day prank.\" class=\"wp-image-38975104\"  \/>A fan was given a $10,000 check before it was quickly taken away. Washington Wizards<\/p>\n<p>The fan was then presented a check, but it was immediately ripped away when it was revealed he had actually missed.<\/p>\n<p>People were quick to hit social media and criticize the Wizards for it all, and eventually, a mea culpa was released.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;display:block\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38975099\" width=\"590\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/000-clip-since-gone-viral-124902985.jpg\" alt=\"Apology from the Washington Wizards for an April Fools' Day prank.\" class=\"wp-image-38975099\"  \/>The Wizards issued a statement on Thursday apologizing for their April Fools\u2019 Day gag. Washington Wizards<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe apologize for last night\u2019s April Fools\u2019 joke that left many wondering if we had misled a fan,\u201d the team said. \u201cThe skit involving our mascot and other members of our performance team was scripted and intended to celebrate the day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll participants were in on the joke, but we missed the mark. Our fans are our priority, and we continue to be committed to providing a positive experience to all who attend our games.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s yet another blemish on what\u2019s been a forgettable year for the 17-59 Wizards, but good news is on the horizon for the team\u2019s fans \u2014 the season ends in less than two weeks.<\/p>\n<p>Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters <\/p>\n<p>California Post News: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheCaliforniaPost\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@CaliforniaPost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">TikTok<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">X<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@thecaliforniapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whatsapp.com\/channel\/0029Vb6a2IV1NCrL6q2AWq0E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">WhatsApp<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/linkedin.com\/company\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a><br \/>California Post Sports <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/capostsports\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/capostsports\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Instagram<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@capostsports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">TikTok<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@CaliforniaPostSports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/capostsports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">X<\/a><br \/>California Post  <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/californiapost\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Opinion<\/a> <br \/>California Post Newsletters: <a href=\"https:\/\/email.nypost.com\/#california-post\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Sign up here!<\/a><br \/>California Post App: <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/california-post\/id6751343487\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Download here!<\/a><br \/>Home delivery: <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.californiapost.com\/defaultCAP\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up here!<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/california-post\/id6751343487\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><br \/><\/a>Page Six Hollywood: <a href=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/hollywood-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Sign up here!<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The last-place Wizards can\u2019t even do Aprils Fools\u2019 Day right. The team played a gag on a fan&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3780],"tags":[87479,7,160,6,66,682,468,3892,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-695014","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-wizards","8":"tag-april-fools","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-nba","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-washington","14":"tag-washington-wizards","15":"tag-washingtonwizards","16":"tag-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116338158079850412","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=695014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}