A Hawks fan appeared to suffer an injury while taking part in a contest during a timeout during Atlanta’s 127-113 loss to the Trail Blazers.
The fan in question was taking part in a tic-tac-toe-themed competition at State Farm Arena and went to go up for a layup when he seemed to slip.
The fan seemed to take a few steps in the paint before he went down, immediately grabbing his left knee, video from the scoreboard inside the venue showed.
A game operations staffer then walked over to check on the fan.
Hawks.com reported that the injury was not an April Fool’s Day prank and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a wheelchair and then a stretcher was brought out for the fan.
A second video posted on X confirmed that the fan was placed on a stretcher by medical and arena personnel, and the TV broadcast showed the aftermath.
Hawks players were seen applauding with fans inside the arena when the man was taken off the court on a stretcher.
To make the situation even more bizarre, the fan that the injured man was competing against continued the contest even as the other person was down on the ground.
Arena hostess Shamea Morton eventually was able to get the other person’s attention to get him to stop playing.
“Can you just wait? Can you just be kind and come over here with me and check on James,” Morton said. “We know you won, but OK.”
Morton started to walk over to the injured fan before turning around and seemingly trying to get some direction as to what she should do from a game ops person off-camera.
Had the contest gone according to plan, the two participants would have raced each other to get tic-tac-toe by making baskets and placing tiles on a large board at center court, according to the AJC.
There was no immediate update on the fan’s condition.
