Watch: ESPN getting hammered over the worst-timed commercial break ever
ESPN is under fire for what just might be the most poorly timed commercial break in recent memory.
On Wednesday night, the network broadcast a matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers. It was an exciting game that came down to the wire, as the teams were knotted at 108 with just seconds to go.
The Lakers had the final possession, and as the game clock winded down, guard Josh Hart drove down the lane and put up a last-second layup right before the buzzer sounded.
The result?
Well, fans watching on ESPN didn’t immediately know what happened, because as Hart’s shot was in the air, the broadcast cut to commercial.
The commercial break lasted maybe a second, but when the game came back, the final buzzer had already sounded.
Hart missed the shot, but fans wouldn’t have known that if the announcer hadn’t said, “We’ll go to overtime.”
Had ESPN not cut to commercial at the most exciting part of the game, here’s what fans would have seen:
If you were watching the final 4 seconds of the Spurs-Lakers tied game on ESPN, you missed the final play due to a commercial cutting in
Here's the final play of regulation 👇pic.twitter.com/fb7UU8TPh8
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) April 5, 2018
Twitter users had a variety of entertaining reactions to the commercial cut-in. First and foremost, many fans were just plain confused.
DID ANYONE ELSE'S TV JUST GO TO COMMERCIAL FOR A SPLIT SECOND WHEN JOSH HART WAS DRIVING THROUGH THE LANE?!
— Peter Nygaard (@RetepAdam) April 5, 2018
Did I just hallucinate an ad mid-layup?
— Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) April 5, 2018
Did ESPN flash to commercial at EXACTLY the wrong time for anyone else?
— Alex (@Bballtweets3) April 5, 2018
Did anyone else’s ESPN feed cut to commercial during hat final Lakers possession? Hahahaha someone’s finger slipped
— Will Muoio (@Will_Muoio) April 5, 2018
Most users seemed to be very clear on one thing — ESPN messed up big time.
https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/981757871594455040
ESPN’s new business model with advertising is aggressive
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) April 5, 2018
ESPN out here acting like a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial sending the game into overtime
— Sports Guy (@Sports_guy16) April 5, 2018
Perhaps the best of all the reactions was a video that inserted the commercial break into some of the more memorable moments in NBA history.
Imagine if some of the best clutch moments in NBA history had a commercial mishap like that Lakers-Spurs game.. (h/t u/kaushalt18) pic.twitter.com/7F4ozlLHQx
— r/NBA (@NBA_Reddit) April 5, 2018
In the end, the Lakers ended up beating the Spurs 122-112 in overtime.
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