The Atlanta Hawks team is trying to get fans hyped for the league’s first in-season tournament, but their star players are not okay with how the team’s social media account is promoting the game.
On July 8, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver continued to push the league forward as he introduced the in-season tournament. This came three years after the implementation of the play-in tournament in the 2019-20 season.
Unlike the play-ins, fans and players alike are not really sure what to think of the in-season tournament, as many still don’t know how it works. The 30 teams have been split up into six groups. The teams will face each other in their groups, and then the teams with the best records inside their groups will advance to the quarterfinals, as will the best two second-place teams from the groups.
After that, the eight teams left will face off in single-elimination games until a team wins out. The semifinals and the championship game will be held in Las Vegas, and the final game will not count toward the team stats. However, the winning team will get a trophy, and each player will receive $500,000.
Some fans find the tournament convoluted, and some players have even said that they were confused about how it works. After the Milwaukee Bucks’ first game in the in-season tournament, Damian Lillard told an ESPN reporter after the game, “I’m not sure what the hell is going on.”
While the tournament has already started, some teams have still not played their first game. The Atlanta Hawks is one of those teams, as their first matchup against the Detroit Pistons doesn’t come until Nov. 14.
The Hawks were ranked as having the second-best NBA X account by Complex Sports, but their recent post has their players questioning if they should be that high. To hype their fans up for the Tuesday night’s match-up, the Hawks made an OnlyFans parody video called “Only Hawks Fans.”
In the video, a woman’s seductive voice narrates as a pair of legs move beneath plush white bed sheets. The scene cuts to Atlanta’s mascot, Harry the Hawk, posing and caressing himself sensually. The voice says, “Only Hawks fans know where the real action is. Only Hawks fans know what they really want to see, and only Hawks fans know just where to get it.” The voice then urges fans to “Join in and wake up your wild side” before another voice whispers, “Hot 5-on-5 action.”
While some people loved the satirical post, a couple of the Hawks’ star players were not fans of the video. Shooting guard Dejounte Murray commented, “MANNNNNNN DELETE THIS S—T!!!!!!!” while point guard Trae Young tried to separate himself from the post, tweeting, “I had no part of this.”
MANNNNNNN DELETE THIS SHIT!!!!!!! https://t.co/voIPvogVa4
— Dejounte Murray (@DejounteMurray) November 9, 2023
I had no part of this..🤦🏽♂️😂 https://t.co/qgCmPBiIR0
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) November 9, 2023
Sports fans laughed at the players’ reactions. One fan told Murray, “Bro, it’s about time someone said something,” while another jokingly told Young, “That’s exactly what someone who had a part in it would say.”
While their in-season games haven’t started at the time of this reporting, the Hawks are showing some bright spots in the early season. The team is above .500, and the two stars are averaging 43 points together.
The Hawks are also getting production from their 6’8″ forward Jalen Johnson. After John Collins’ departure, Atlanta switched to its 2021 draft pick, and they haven’t looked back, as he has averaged 14.3 points and 8.9 rebounds.
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