A marketing gimmick by the Breakers, poking fun at one of their former players, has backfired so much that their own players were left criticising it.
Ahead of Saturday night’s match against the Wildcats in Auckland, the top-of-the-table Kiwi NBL club had looked to drum up a crowd at Spark Arena by taunting Corey Webster, who now plies his trade for the Perth-based side.
The Breakers had on Friday posted on Instagram a billboard with the face of Webster accompanied by an equals sign and a cat emoji.
“Cheeky’s [the Breakers mascot] just got back from Christchurch and looks like the billboards [sic] changed,” the post read. “What could this possibly mean?”
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To which Webster was quick to reply in the comments:
“Something they wouldn’t say to my face.”
The Auckland-born 34-year-old joined the Breakers in 2008 as a development player and spent 10 years with the club, winning three titles, though his career has been blotted by off-court issues, and last year he and the Breakers parted ways with two years left on his contract.
Paul Kane/Getty Images
Corey Webster was the target of a Breakers marketing gimmick which was slammed by their own players.
The Instagram post has been slammed by many, including current Breakers players Izayah Le’afa and Tom Vodanovich, who wrote, “This is so off” and “This is way off!!”, respectively.
Former Breaker Leon Henry also chimed in: “Bunch of [clown emoji] for this one. “There’s one thing we don’t do and that’s disrespect.”
The Breakers go into the contest (7.30pm tipoff) on the back of five-straight wins, while the Wildcats are seventh on the 10-team ladder.
