{"id":695849,"date":"2026-04-03T13:37:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695849\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T13:37:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T13:37:15","slug":"washington-wizards-forced-to-apologize-after-cruel-prank-on-loyal-fan-backfires-causing-major-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/695849\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Wizards forced to apologize after ‘cruel’ prank on loyal fan backfires causing major storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON WIZARDS chiefs have issued an apology after leaving NBA fans furious following an April Fools\u2019 Day prank.<\/p>\n

The skit took place during their 153-131 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

A Washington Wizards fan was tasked with nailing a half-court shot while blindfoldedCredit: NBA Canada<\/p>\n

He was mobbed following his attemptCredit: NBA Canada<\/p>\n

A loyal Wizards<\/a> fan was told he would bag $10,000 if he nailed a half-court shot while blindfolded.<\/p>\n

And it appeared he was certain he had given his bank balance a major boost when he was swarmed by the mascots and the announcer said: \u201cSomebody\u2019s rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Wizards supporter realized his attempt had soared over the basket when he was told to watch the replay.<\/p>\n

The NBA<\/a> franchise has been forced to apologize after the prank backfired and caused a major social media storm, while it turns out the fan was in on it all along.<\/p>\n

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WORK OUT<\/p>\n

Rapper J Cole set for stunning return to pro basketball after four years<\/p>\n

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STAR WORRY<\/p>\n

Michigan star Cadeau rushed to hospital after medical emergency in practice<\/p>\n

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A statement read: \u201cWe apologize for last night\u2019s April Fools\u2019 joke that left many wondering if we had misled a fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe skit involving our mascot and other members of our performance team was scripted and intended to celebrate the day.<\/p>\n

\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

Fans across the country raced onto social media to slam the Wizards<\/a> after the incident.<\/p>\n

One wrote: \u201cThat\u2019s not funny. That\u2019s just cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another added: \u201cThis is an insane thing to do to someone who willingly attended a Wizards<\/a> game.\u201d<\/p>\n

The loyal supporter was made to feel like he had pulled it offCredit: NBA Canada<\/p>\n

But his attempt was way off targetCredit: NBA Canada<\/p>\n

A third chimed in: \u201cJokes are fine, but making fans the punchline is a risky play.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fourth noted: \u201cThe high he must have felt\u00a0and then the immediate drop off must have been devastating. He\u2019s never gonna forget this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fan was offered an autographed jersey and courtside tickets for next season after being left embarrassed at the Capital One Arena.<\/p>\n

And the Wizards are back in action tomorrow, when they face the Miami Heat<\/a> in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON WIZARDS chiefs have issued an apology after leaving NBA fans furious following an April Fools\u2019 Day prank.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":695850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3780],"tags":[7,6,4505,682,468,3892,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-695849","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-wizards","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-social-media","11":"tag-washington","12":"tag-washington-wizards","13":"tag-washingtonwizards","14":"tag-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116341052175507291","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695849","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=695849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/695849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/695850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=695849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=695849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=695849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}