Hayley Crombleholme, a news reporter of KUTV in Salt Lake City, Utah, went viral this week after she shared a video of her interviewing Jordan Clarkson, the NBA guard who she did not know plays for the hometown basketball team.
Crombleholme was in the field conducting man-on-the-street reactions from Utah Jazz fans regarding new COVID-19 protocols for home games. The Jazz franchise and Vivint Arena recently announced that fans would be required to show proof of vaccination in order to enter the stadium for NBA games, according to 2 News KUTV.
One of the citizens that Crombleholme stopped to interview for their reaction to the new regulations was Clarkson. In the course of the interview, she asked him if he has ever attended any Jazz games.
“Yeah, a lot,” Clarkson answered with a straight face. It isn’t exactly a lie.
Clarkson has played for the Jazz for the past two seasons.
Even when she asked him to spell his name for the interview, it still had not dawned on her that she was speaking with a key member of the team’s roster.
Once she realized what happened, an embarrassed Crombleholme disclosed her gaffe in a series of tweets.
“Welp, pretty sure @rlikness and I just interviewed @JordanClarksons off the street without realizing it was Jordan Clarkson,” she tweeted with a slapping forehead emoji.
The clip of Crombleholme asking Clarkson if he attended any games garnered more than 13,000 likes, nearly 1,700 retweets and quote tweets north of 900 as of Saturday afternoon.
Despite the gaffe, Clarkson himself was kind about the ordeal, quote tweeting Crombleholme with the caption, “haha Lets GO JAZZ! Cant wait to get started!!!”
Clarkson won the 2020-2021 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award after averaging a career-high 18.4 points per game off the bench for the Jazz, as reported by ESPN. He is the first player in Jazz history to win the award. The 29-year-old helped lead Utah to the best record in the league and first seed in the Western Conference playoffs this past season.
With the NBA season due to start in less than a month, the Jazz announced on Friday that all game attendees above the age of 12 must show proof of full vaccination or test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours to attend home contests, as reported by the Salt Lake Tribune.
Adult attendees will be strongly encouraged, but not required, to wear face masks during the games. However, all attendees 12 years old or younger will be required to wear a face mask.
The state of Utah currently has a seven-day average of 1,388 new COVID-19 cases, and only 50% of Utah residents of all ages are fully vaccinated, as reported by the New York Times.
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