NBA team will return PS5 gifted to young fan after taking it back off camera

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The Grinch was wearing teal on Monday night.

One young fan had his amazing on-court moment ruined on Monday night, when the Charlotte Hornets apparently tried to pull a fast one him.

After gifting a PlayStation 5 to the boy during a break in their game against the 76ers, the team later took it back off camera, according to reports.

The Hornets gave the video-game console to a kid during a break in the action of Monday’s loss to the visiting Philadelphia 76ers. The Hornets’ mascot, Hugo, played Santa and handed out gifts to several young fans in attendance.

The boy, whose name reportedly is Jack, was called to the court to receive a brand-new PS5. But as revealed in a text exchange posted on X between his uncle and a friend, not all was as it seemed.

According to the post, the giveaway was fake and the Hornets forced the fans to give back their gifts when they were no longer on screen.

Instead of the PS5, the team allegedly gave Jack a Hornets jersey.

“We didn’t know what was going on until like 30 seconds before we walked out on the court,” the text exchange said. “The last kid was like a skit, but the first two were not, and we didn’t even know what was going on with the last kid when we walked out.”

The staff in charge of the promo apparently told the adults, but not the kids about the situation.

“They did like a whisper to me that they wouldn’t get to keep whatever they got, but they didn’t tell the kids. The first kid got a Christmas-themed Brandon Miller jersey, and they tried to take that away and he started crying. So they ended up giving it to him,” the text added.

Even the cheerleader assisting had no idea what was going on.

“The cheerleader who was with us had no idea we had to give the PS5 back. So she started getting Jack excited about it and asking if we wanted to keep the bag and everything,” the post said. “And this guy just like came up and was trying to take it away … The cheerleader and others thought he was joking, so it got super awkward.”

But after the seriously Scrooge-like moment, the Hornets wised up on Tuesday. The team said in a statement that it will be returning the console to the fan and treating Jack to a “VIP experience” at a future game. He’ll also get to keep the jersey that he received on Monday.

“During last night’s game there was an on-court skit that missed the mark,” the team said in the statement sent to local NBC affiliate WCNC. “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.”