The Hornets Are Getting Roasted for Framing Play-In Net for Coby White

NBA fans are never going to let the Hornets live this one down.

Apr 12, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Charlotte Hornets guard Coby White (3) in action against the New York Knicks during the first half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Charlotte Hornets came oh so close to playing in a best-of-seven series for the first time since 2016. Well, sort of. They got crushed by the Orlando Magic in the deciding game for the No. 8 seed, but did get a taste of the fully alive Hive when they hosted and beat the Miami Heat in the 9/10 game.

In that game, Coby White hit a game-tying three in the corner, putting the shot up with 12.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter on what appeared to be a low-percentage shot that was heavily contested right in front of Miami's bench. He turned into his shooting motion as he was catching the ball and hoisted it up while fading away from Pelle Larson and drained it, blowing the roof off the place.

It was without question one of the most exciting moments and games in Charlotte Hornets' franchise history. For the first time in years, fans had hope, and on that night in particular, everyone thought the Hornets would be poised to match up with the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs and give them a heck of a series.

In the Hornets' recent episode of Reel Access, they showed where head coach Charles Lee presented Coby White with a framed net from that play-in game to show their appreciation for him and to recognize the moment.

What seemed to be a cool gesture by the Hornets has turned into a straight-up roast of the organization on social media.

Just a few of the many negative reactions on X

It's a bad look, but NBA fans are misreading it

Look, it's hard to defend a team that framed a net in a Play-In game. That's something that is always going to hover over this franchise until they accomplish something of greater value. It's similar to UCF Football claiming a national championship when they didn't even play in the game. At least for the Knights, they won a bunch of games and just got boxed out of that opportunity. Fans across college football still poke fun at them for it. That's what will happen with the Hornets.

All that being said, this is not an organization that is satisfied with just making the Play-In. Jeff Peterson has said that himself roughly a million times at this point and proved that this offseason by shaking up the roster because he believes the way it was currently constructed wasn't good enough to get past the Play-In.

This, to me, is just the team recognizing one of the coolest moments in franchise history and saying this is just the start of something.

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