Fans catfished a college basketball player into one of his worst games

Remember 2006, when no one took online privacy seriously and we all talked to each other with AOL Instant Messenger? This former college basketball player definitely does.

Gabe Pruitt, who you may remember from his days at USC or his brief career with the Boston Celtics, had an online flirting session go gradually awry when he realized the "person" he'd been sending messages and photos was not, in fact, a girl, but instead a rival fan intent on throwing Pruitt off his game. And so he did.

This is a story of "catfishing" before that term even existed, a story of a time when the Internet was a wild west and even fairly famous people were cavalier with their privacy ... and a story of how devious fans can genuinely affect the course of a sporting event.

Produced and hosted by Seth Rosenthal
Co-hosted by Clara Morris and Will Buikema
Directed by Jiazhen Zhang and Ryan Simmons
Motion graphics by Phil Pasternak

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