Purported Delivery Driver Interrupts College Basketball Game
The record books will show that Duquesne beat Loyola Chicago on Wednesday night 72-58, but the real star of the basketball game wasn’t a player on either team, but an alleged food delivery driver.
Early in the second half, an unidentified man carrying a McDonald’s bag walked onto the basketball court, apparently attempting to deliver an order ― although evidence suggests it was a prank.
Yes, there’s video:
Did a delivery guy just walk on the court? 🤔😅 pic.twitter.com/iBjTRXaw2X
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 26, 2023
ESPN, which was covering the game, offered updates on the man’s effort.
he has yet to find the target of his delivery pic.twitter.com/iU1vA0Eq6b
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 26, 2023
It’s not clear what company the man was delivering for ― if it was a real delivery at all. The man appeared to say DoorDash in one video, and the company used its Twitter account to snarkily reply to the many people crediting Uber Eats.
Not shocking anyone mistook a lost order for Uber Eats
— DoorDash (@DoorDash) January 26, 2023
Duquesne coach Keith Dambrot told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that the attempted on-court delivery was the “craziest thing he’s ever seen.”
The paper noted that Dambrot had a similar experience while working as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan when fans had ice cream delivered to the opposing coach in the middle of the game.
The referee moved the purported delivery person off the court so the game could continue, and security guards escorted him to the concourse level. He was united with his supposed customer to the cheers of fans watching on the video board.
People were impressed with the man’s work ethic.
the absolute most 🤩 https://t.co/IMJWI5KhUR
— Uber Eats (@UberEats) January 26, 2023
The commentary is excellent hahaha pic.twitter.com/p01wRgGIRP
— Andy Dieckhoff (@andrewdieckhoff) January 26, 2023
give dude a raise https://t.co/sHrbkMt7Iw
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) January 26, 2023
😂😂😂 we were always told to play ‘hungry’ so I guess they had enough.
— Kieron Achara MBE (@KieronAchara) January 26, 2023
But at least one person was skeptical of the whole event: Loyola Chicago assistant athletics director Austin Hansen.
He posted a thread explaining why the delivery may have only been designed to deliver “clout” for the alleged driver, noting the man was wearing a microphone.
Everyone keeps asking me what happened with the door dash guy on the court at tonights game. Here was my angle.
A thread... pic.twitter.com/QMY3nmw2tq— Austin Hansen (@AustinHansenTV) January 26, 2023
1. I did not order the McDonalds, even though it was being "delivered" steps from my camera position.
— Austin Hansen (@AustinHansenTV) January 26, 2023
2. This kid was clearly doing a prank for Youtube/TikTok. You can see that he is wearing a microphone, and tons of students were filming him with their phones. pic.twitter.com/xd5xEMuloX
— Austin Hansen (@AustinHansenTV) January 26, 2023
3. They didn't kick him out. He just casually walked back into the stands with his McDonalds in hand.
— Austin Hansen (@AustinHansenTV) January 26, 2023
4. I will personally tackle anyone else who does this. Just let the athletes play the game without worry that they are going to get hurt by a stray delivery person.
— Austin Hansen (@AustinHansenTV) January 26, 2023