Start of game delayed nearly an hour due to uneven rim This hoop dream was a nightmare
MINNEAPOLIS – The Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves were minutes away from tip-off Monday night when an orange ladder appeared under the basket the had been shooting at during pregame warmups at Target Center.
A level was placed across the rim and over the next few moments, more and more arena personnel started congregating by the ladder. Meanwhile, the Bucks and Timberwolves went to the other side of the court, shooting together and chitchatting to kill time.
Eventually, both teams went back to their locker rooms and a much larger ladder arrived on the court. The basket needed to be stripped of its cameras and wires in order to be swapped out for another hoop enBucks
tirely.
“Tonight's game between the Wolves and Bucks is currently delayed due to a malfunction with one of the baskets,” the Timberwolves said in a statement. “The basket is being replaced and the game will begin shortly.
A third hoop was wheeled into the arena on the opposite side of the broken one, but it never was pressed into service.
The original rim was sufficiently adjusted to fix the issue without needing to be replaced.
By the time the Timberwolves returned to the court, it was 7:44 p.m. Both teams were given 71⁄2 minutes to warm back up before the pregame routine continued as usual with the national anthem and player introductions.
The game, scheduled as a 7 p.m. start, didn't tip off until 7:59 p.m.
The delay led to a fun back-and-forth between the two teams on Twitter with the Timberwolves' official Twitter account asking the Bucks what they had done to the basket. The Bucks responded that Target Center is no Fiserv Forum before referencing Ja Rule's infamous tweet about the Fyre Festival in a separate tweet.