ATLANTA: The Charlotte Hornets were late to the arena for their NBA Play-In game against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Of all things, by a freight train.

State Farm Arena is surrounded by tracks, which date back to when the location was home to the city’s two primary passenger stations. Both stations were demolished decades ago, although many of the tracks that remain are still used by freight trains passing through Atlanta’s central business district.

Before the game, one of those trains came to a halt on a crossing, preventing the Hornets’ chartered buses from accessing the players’ entry on the arena’s lower level.

The buses had no choice but to turn around and find another way to the arena. They were around 15 minutes late.

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Per Montrezl Harrell’s IG story, following the Hornets team bus being delayed by a train they then had to walk to the arena ahead of tonight’s Play-In Game vs. ATL.#AllFly | #NBA pic.twitter.com/EM5rVfkbho

— Ashley Stroehlein (@ashstro) April 13, 2022

“I’ve never seen that,” Hornets coach James Borrego said. “I’ve been coming to this arena for 20 years, and I’ve never seen a train stop before the game.”

He seemed to infer that the Hawks were to blame for the freight train coming to a halt at the crossing.

“Somebody figure it out. I have no idea,” Borrego said. “But our guys noticed.”

The 10th-seeded Hornets, he added, were energised by the delay since they were hoping to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“It’s good fuel for us,” Borrego said.

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