You watch this video with anticipation. Brian Roberts is so hot from the floor. He’s showing off his expansive array of offensive skills. He misses free throws, a rarity for the player who led the league in FT% one year, but he never gets thrown off his rhythm. The points keep racking up – eight points, then thirteen, seventeen, twenty-two…but wait. The video title says that he scored 24. You double-check the boxscore, ready to tell the video uploader to correct his error, but again, you are greeted by that same number: 24.
Unease growing in your stomach, you figure that DownToBuck must have just overlooked a made shot in his haste to upload the video. Yeah, that must be it. You head over to the NBA website to watch the shot for yourself, but when it gets to 4:55 in the third quarter, the only thing that happens is Al Jefferson making a shot from the post. Brian Roberts stands on the opposite side of the court behind the three-point line, barely involved in the play.
Your skin begins to sweat, and in your paranoia, you jump at every small sound. The boxscore clearly states that Brian Roberts scored at that point in the game, but the video contradicts that information. Has the NBA been altering reality after the fact? The phrase “2 + 2 = 5” will not stop echoing in your mind.
There is a knock at your door. You weren’t expecting company. Opening the door, Adam Silver stands in front of you, gun pointed at your forehead. Before you can protest or even turn to run, the trigger is pulled, and the NBA’s secret remains safe.