Wednesday’s Game 2 matchup between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers on TNT featured a drone camera that was captured on the main broadcast angle of the game.
Drone cameras have increasingly been used to capture alternative angles of the game for viewers at home. Most of the time they are not seen by viewers at home, but that wasn’t the case on Wednesday night.
The drone was captured in the first quarter of the game with the Celtics on offense. You can see it fly into the picture from the opposite side of the court and then sit just above the Celtics players as they run their offensive play.
After the Celtics finally score on the play TNT then used the drone for a full-court view for fans at home. They then go back to the standard broadcast angle where the drone is still visible.
Fans in attendance also took notice of the drone, posting their own videos of it on social media flying around the arena.
Drone in the TD ??? #Celtics #Bleedgreen #NBAPlayofffs pic.twitter.com/LdtoSa0pmy
— Bri Marie D (@BriMarieD) May 4, 2023
There were overall mixed reactions to the drone shots, with many saying that there is a drop-off in camera quality with the drone shot compared to the traditional broadcast view.
Can we not do the drone shots at the NBA games it looks horrible
— Ryan (@ryanhatesbagels) May 4, 2023
The use of drones in basketball broadcasts isn’t exactly unheard of. They have been used by ABC in their NBA Finals broadcasts as well as CBS in the Final Four. However, it seems very clear that there are still some kinks that need to be worked out by TNT as they get more comfortable with using it for NBA coverage.
Photo Credit: TNT