The Celtics were trying to rebound in Game 2 against the Sixers but all fans could focus on for the NBA Playoff matchup was the annoying TNT drone camera.
Wednesday night was a big one in the 2023 NBA Playoffs as the Boston Celtics tried to even their second round series with the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite Joel Embiid being out for Game 1, the Sixers pulled off a major upset behind James Harden in Game 1.
All fans could focus on, however, was the biggest distraction in TNT history: a drone camera.
In a new venture, the TNT drone camera gave fans a wide-angle shot to offer a different look of the game.
TNT has a drone camera flying around for the Sixers-Celtics game in Boston.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 4, 2023
Here, you can see the drone being visible from the main broadcast angle, followed by a view from the drone, and then back to the drone being visible on the main angle. 🏀📺🎥 pic.twitter.com/BtmAd2wBL1
The angle itself isn’t great, from my view, as it makes the screen look stretch and the game more difficult to see.
TNT drone camera during Celtics-76ers has NBA Twitter raging
Not only is the angle itself a tough watch, but on the main broadcast angle, you can still see the TNT drone camera moving on the opposite end of the floor. And all of this combined had NBA Twitter in a bad mood about the broadcast.
The drone footage TNT using for this Sixers/Celtics game pic.twitter.com/L0nT5qoxE8
— Blazers Palace (@blazers_palace) May 4, 2023
TNT has a drone flying around in here and it's irrationally bothering me
— John Karalis 🇬🇷🇺🇦 (@John_Karalis) May 4, 2023
please lose the drone TNT what are you even doing
— russ bengtson (@russbengtson) May 4, 2023
TNT saw the tweets about the drones and got rid of it faster than the Dr. Pimple Popper ads.
— Sean Highkin (@highkin) May 4, 2023
I appreciate you trying new things TNT, but get this drone shot outta here. The colors are off, and the frame rate doesn’t match. Takes me out of the game.
— Peter Howarth (@tweetsandpete) May 4, 2023
TNT exec/drone enthusiast: “What if we had a camera to broadcast the basketball game except — get this — it is notably worse than the regular camera?”
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) May 4, 2023
TNT boss: pic.twitter.com/oCbOSqUh2j
Who else saw the drone on TNT and thought someone threw something on the court? 😅
— Deon Bent (@dedon91) May 4, 2023
The resolution on these drone shots TNT keeps using #PHIvsBOS pic.twitter.com/2SEJ6NCjkR
— Alex Hernandez (@salejandroh) May 4, 2023
For one of the two major broadcasting networks for the NBA, it makes a lot of sense for them to experiment with different angles to present the game. With the rise of drone technology, it makes a lot of sense to at least try this.
Still, the camera angle it shows is very weird and doesn’t enhance the viewer’s experience at all. The view from inside the stadium makes it seem bad too as it looks to be interfering with the view of the paying fans.
With the negative reaction from NBA Twitter and fans everywhere, though, TNT seemed to ditch the drone in the second half. Experimenting isn’t a bad thing, but this should be a one-and-done thing, especially based on the reaction it got.