Here's a genuine question: Let's say you're a fan at an NBA game who is offered the opportunity to compete on the court to win a prize during a break in the action. You're competing against another fan, who almost immediately suffers an apparent injury.
Do you stop trying to win?
This is not a hypothetical. This is what happened on Tuesday night in Atlanta during the Hawks-Trail Blazers game.
Two fans were competing against each other in the layup tic-tac-toe challenge (score a layup to place an X or O on the board) and while one fan got off to a hot start, the other seemingly messed up his knee real bad with a hard fall to the court.
Quick, but important, aside: While the video title claims the injured fan tore his ACL, that has not been confirmed and is merely speculation at this point. He was, however, taken off the court on a stretcher while receiving further medical attention.
Now, back to the competition. While one fan was down in pain, the other was still trying to win, remaining locked in on the competition. Which led to a little tsk-tsking from in-arena host Shamea Morton.
“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.”
What is our guy supposed to do? James doesn't need the other fan to come check on him. Not unless he happens to be a doctor or first responder. And in this economy, any chance to win a prize is one you have to take seriously.
Don't hate the guy playing until the whistle, hate the ref who didn't stop the game.
Maybe also make sure you wipe down the paint before trying another game like this. Those are all decent places to start. Hopefully James is feeling better (and the Hawks handle whatever medical bills may come out of this).
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Fan suffers a brutal injury during an Atlanta Hawks on-court contest
