Some fans will do anything for attention, and then there are content creators for whom attention is the entire point. One example of the latter tried his luck on Saturday during the Lindenwood versus Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis college hoops game. With less than 90 seconds left on the clock and IUPUI down seven points, an individual dressed in a LeBron James Miami Heat jersey attempted to take his talents onto the court. Homeboy almost snuck one past the goalie.
It didn’t take long for social media to turn up the apparent source of the stunt: a content creator known on X, formerly Twitter, as @youngmantis2.
‘Mantis’ has a reputation for sports-related stunts, once posting about sneaking onto the field at an Indianapolis Colts game. He apparently once was a student at IUPUI before winning a contest to work at Barstool Sports, whose president, Dave Portnoy, cajoled him to quit school to accept the offer.
The reactions to this latest stunt on social media are hilarious.
What some folks on X suggested was that this “super fan” should have been allowed to play. While there’s no way anyone involved would’ve knowingly let that happen, that would have been the most entertaining outcome for everyone watching. The players likely would have been annoyed, but talk about a viral moment. This supposed content creator would have been put on the map on a much larger scale had he been successful.
Mantis didn’t go the usual route of simply running onto the court (or field in other sports) for 15 seconds in the spotlight. Attempting to actually check properly was different but maybe not the most logical approach, wearing an NBA uniform and one of King James’ on top of that. Surely, he figured the white jersey and shorts with red trim would throw everyone off.
Hopefully, he won’t let this failed attempt stop him from achieving his dream. However, the next time, this fan should find a jersey of the team he wants to step onto the court with. Other team members would probably notice immediately that this wasn’t a teammate, but he could use the excuse of being a walk-on in this situation. Regardless, it was a nice try, but it’s time to go back and draw up a new game plan.
