Warriors’ warmups for NBA Finals Game 3 paused because Boston hoop is
too tall
Golden State Warriors players notice the basketball rim was taller than
standard 10 feet
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 7: The Golden State Warriors practice for
tomorrow’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.,
Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
>BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JUNE 7: The Golden State Warriors practice for
tomorrow’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden in Boston, Mass.,
Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
By MADELINE KENNEY | mkenney@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: June 8, 2022 at 4:39 p.m. | UPDATED: June 9, 2022 at 4:20 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/06/08/warriors-warmups-for-nba-finals-game-3-paused-because-boston-hoop-is-too-tall/

BOSTON — As Gary Payton II went through his pregame routine before Game
3 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night, the Warriors guard thought
something seemed a bit off about the hoop.

Turns out he was right.

The Warriors had their pregame shooting routine interrupted to fix the
basketball hoop Wednesday night about an hour and a half before tip-off
for the first of two games in Boston.

Payton had felt the hoop was a bit taller than the league mandated 10
feet. The Warriors requested the Celtics look into the issue, which was
quickly addressed.

Basketball arenas tend to have a 10-foot long stick that they can hang
on a rim and see if it touches the floor. In this instance, there was a
small but noticeable gap between the bottom of the stick and the famous
parquet floor in Boston.

The pause lasted only a few minutes, as Golden State players were back
on the floor doing their pregame shooting routines by 7:30 p.m. local
time in Boston, but it still may have caused some disruptions to those
routines.

Coach Steve Kerr was informed of the hoop’s height discrepancy at his
pregame press conference and poked fun at the late-night start on the
east coast.

“It’s a good thing the game starts at midnight. We’ll have plenty of
time to fix it,” he said to the amusement of the press corps.

“It happens every once in a while,” he continued. “Players have a really
sharp eye for that. Players can tell. I imagine somebody went out there,
looked at it, didn’t look right. So as long as they take care of it,
then everything is good.”

--
Dubs’ warmups had to be paused because the hoop was too high 😳
pic.twitter.com/UgMkAB4EwE

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 8, 2022
--

Videos and photos of TD Garden staff fixing the hoop went viral on
Twitter, with many poking fun at the incident that was most likely an
honest mistake.

Former Warriors player Andrew Bogut quoted a tweet with video of the
incident, writing: “Love it by the @celtics Shenanigans !”