During the ESPN on ABC broadcast of Game 1 between the Knicks and Heat on Sunday, NBA fans noticed a jarring video used as b-roll of Manhattan. The broadcast was using a video of the Statue of Liberty, but in the background, the Twin Towers could be seen.
Naturally, fans didn’t care for the use of the World Trade Center that was destroyed in a terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. It lead to Twitter users questioning whether ABC had any recent video of Manhattan. Even if they didn’t for some odd reason, any other video clip that didn’t include the Twin Towers would have sufficed.
Outkick reached out to ESPN for comment and the company responded with, “We mistakenly used an old stock image and we apologize,” in a statement. The ABC broadcast features ESPN analysts, reporters and announcers because ESPN is 80% owned by ABC, an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.
Here are some reactions from NBA fans who noticed the blunder and called out ABC and ESPN:
ABC production so awful that they quite literally used old NYC footage that included the Twin Towers in the background. Can’t make this up pic.twitter.com/8SwcHe5wxv
— Mr. Smith 👑 (@BadChoiceMilk) April 30, 2023
The B-roll on ABC just had the World Trade Center Twin towers in it. Why do they still have B-roll from over 20 years ago!? @ABCNetwork
— Terrence Webb (@WorldWideWebb92) April 30, 2023
Did ABC just casually show a picture of the twin towers during the Knicks halftime show like it was a live shot?
— Howard Unger (@hmunger) April 30, 2023
Why did ABC show a picture of the Twin Towers with the Statue of Liberty like it was a live shot during the Knicks game ?
— Terri (@terruf) April 30, 2023
ESPN just rolled b-roll of the Twin Towers going into commercial. Thought I was buggin but had to rewind to make sure. pic.twitter.com/EaXASBjJ2s
— David Sanchirico (@DavidSanchirico) April 30, 2023
