The Charlotte Hornets are responding after it was revealed they took away a PlayStation 5 after gifting it to a young boy during the game.
On Monday, December 16, the Hornets took on the Philadelphia 76ers.
During that game, the Hornets organization brought out a young fan to surprise him with one of his top Christmas gifts, a PlayStation 5.
During the second quarter break, Hugo, the team’s mascot, donned a Santa costume and knelt down next to the kid as the emcee read a “letter.”
“Dear Santa Hugo, I have been working hard at school all year and making sure my grades are all As. I have also been working on my jumpshot but my jumpshot in (NBA)2K needs some work,” the emcee read.
The note then asked Santa Hugo for a PS5 and he was presented with just that.
The kid looked thrilled as they rushed him off the court before the game resumed.
However, a tweet from Adam Turner later revealed that after the kid was removed from the court, the Hornets organization took the PS5 away and replaced it with a Hornets jersey.
“You guys want to see a cheap sports organization,” the tweet began. “In this video my best friend (and) his nephew get called onto court for a special segment where they gift the kid a PS5 publicly… (with) cameras off they TOOK IT AWAY and gave him a jersey.”
“Take a bow, Hornets,” the tweet concluded, “crushed the kid.”
Turner added in the comments that they should have told his friend’s nephew that it was a “skit” beforehand or just gifted him the jersey on camera instead.
“Just don’t make it a gift!! Take jerseys and stuff from fan shop that cost you less. Pretending to give stuff away to kids before Xmas and not letting them keep it is grinch level work.”
As the “skit” went viral, the Hornets organization responded with a statement of their own.
“During last night’s game there was an on-court skit that missed the mark,” the response began. “The skit included bad decision making and poor communication. Simply put, we turned the ball over and we apologize. 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.”
In an interview with Queen City News, the child’s uncle Alexei Phillips said at the start of the game he was approached by a member of the Hornets staff.
“Someone from their fan team kind of reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, do you guys wanna be on the court with Hugo?’ And we said sure,” he told the station.
But right before they walked onto the court, Phillips said one of the staffers quickly whispered to him that his nephew wouldn’t be able to keep the PlayStation 5.
“It got pretty awkward,” Phillips said after the PlayStation 5 was taken from his nephew. “Because [the staffer] had to make it clear he wasn’t joking.”
In the end, Phillips told Queen City News he doesn’t have hard feelings toward the Hornets but seconded what his friend said on X.
“The funny thing is, if he had just gone out in the first place and they just gave him a jersey out there on the court, he would have been stoked, you know.”
