NBA announcers went absolutely cuckoo when Boban Marjanović, the 7'4" tall Houston Rockets center, sabotaged his gameplay so attending fans could win a free chicken sandwich.
Marjanović, whose team dominated the playoff-bound Los Angeles Clippers, intentionally missed a free throw, much to the delight of spectators hyped for the home team's Chick-fil-A promotion.
The fast food promotion's rule stipulated that an opposing player had to miss two consecutive free throws in the fourth quarter of a home game for attendees to win free chicken sandwiches.
And Marjanović, a career 76.2% free throw shooter, delivered by missing the shot on purpose.
The sham dunk elicited cheers from the hungry crowd and the announcers' booth, where reporters exclaimed the Serbian NBA star was a "man of the people" for giving them free chicken.
When a fellow announcer asked if Marjanović "did that on purpose," the other enthusiastically replied:
"He did! He gave out free chicken!"
You can watch a clip here.
Before he purposely fumbled the shot, Marjanović positioned himself at the mark with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter and appeared to signal to Clippers' fans, "Chicken on me.”
A crowd member seated behind the basketball net was spotted with a sign that read:
"We like chicken. Yes we do."
As a former Clippers player, how could he not give the crowd what they craved?
So he successfully missed the second of his two free throws, indicating chicken was on him as promised.
You can watch an extended clip here.
BOBAN TELLS CROWD "CHICKEN ON ME" THEN PURPOUSLY MISSES FREE THROWS TO GET FREE CHICKEN!youtu.be
The calculated gameplay moved social media users.
The Rockets beat the Clippers 116-105 on Sunday to salvage a .500 season.
The Clippers are seeded fourth in the NBA’s Western Conference and will face off in the first round against the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks next weekend.
@PreetBharara/X
@RepBrendanBoyle/X
@twesq/Bluesky
@christopherharris/Bluesky
@evangelinewarren/X
@FrankC164/X
AMC