The Toronto Raptors game operations staff tried to get cute and created a video poking fun at Indiana, their first-round playoff opponent.
These types of video fill time between timeouts and are made to elicit a response from the home crowd of 19,800 fans at the Air Canada Centre. But this one was in bad taste.
Consider: 1. Raptors coach Dwane Casey was born in Indianapolis and 2. the idea of a Top Ten List itself came from David Letterman, also an Indianapolis native.
Here’s what reporters covering the Raptors wrote about it:
Tasteless scoreboard mocking of Indiana is beneath an organization that considers itself first class
— Doug Smith: Raptors (@SmithRaps) April 16, 2016
This is so lame. Just stop.
— Mike Ganter (@Mike_Ganter) April 16, 2016
Seriously, that was offensively lame.
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) April 16, 2016
Raptors are getting ripped (rightly so) for their terrible timeout video mocking Indiana. #RTZ #NBAPlayoffs https://t.co/GDkUj39ZXh
— Lori Ewing (@Ewingsports) April 16, 2016
The Raptors public relations staff, widely considered one of the best in the NBA, was on top of it and said they addressed it.
.@Raptors officials just thanked some of us for tweeting about the silly "best things about Indiana" jokes. They've addressed it internally.
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) April 16, 2016
The fact that the Indiana Pacers left with a Game 1 victory had to sting even more.