The Charlotte Hornets have apologized for appearing to gift a PlayStation 5 to a child during an on-court skit, only to later take it back from him off camera.

The incident, which occurred during Monday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers, was captured in a post on X that now has 4.5 million views.

The post shows the Hornets’ mascot, Hugo, dressed as Santa Claus handing the PlayStation 5 to a young fan, who takes the gift with a mixture of shock and delight on his face.

However, the X user – who said the child is his best friend’s nephew – said Hornets staff later took the PlayStation back from the boy off camera and handed him a jersey instead.

Perhaps a Grinch outfit for Hugo would have been more fitting instead.

Speaking to local outlet Queen City News (QCN), the boy’s uncle, Alexei Phillips, said a Hornets staff member whispered to him beforehand that the kids were not going to keep the presents they received on the court.

Crucially, this information wasn’t relayed to his 13-year-old nephew, who Phillips said is called Jack.

“At this point, everybody thinks that Jack is going to get this PS5, including all the dancers, all the cheerleaders, everybody basically like, starts congratulating him,” Phillips told QCN. “There was even a Hornets dancer who actually gave him the PS5 … she starts to pack it up for him in the bag.