How basketball gold medal match was hit by bizarre delay at Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games - 'I’ve never seen that happen'
Updated 30/07/2026 at 11:29 GMT+1
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Live sport can, and often does, throw up everything from the sublime to the ridiculous, and that was the case during the men’s 3x3 basketball final at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games between England and Australia.
‘I’ve never seen that!’ - Watch very unusual delay as basketball gets stuck in final
Video credit: TNT Sports
As the two sides were getting down to the serious business of battling it out for a gold medal at the Games, the match was halted for something highly unusual that certainly gave the TNT Sports commentary team a tickle.
The incident occurred with the Australians leading 8-6 and on the attack looking to extend their advantage.
The referee blew the whistle after a foul by England’s Ashley Hamilton, but Australia’s Jarred Bairstow continued his run forward and attempted to shoot a basket over the backboard from off the court.
It wasn’t successful in the conventional sense, but he still managed to accomplish something pretty extraordinary, as the ball came to rest on a small camera stand on top of the backboard.
"I’ve never seen that happen in a game," said TNT Sports commentary Martin Henlan.
"I’ve never seen that happen in my 45 years being involved in basketball. No one has ever shot and had the ball stop on top of the backboard."
When an alternative angle of the backboard showed the ball had been lodged against a pole, Henlan added: ”Oh, there’s a camera stanchion. I have seen that, I take it back.”
The incident sparked a quick game within a game, as players took turns trying to dislodge the ball with another ball.
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There were a couple of hits – you would expect as much – but still the ball did not budge.
"This will be a laugh. How long have we got? Surely you’ve got the floor mop. You’ve got 6ft 10in basketball players, hold the mop and poke it off. It’s still up there."
Eventually, that advice was taken, and fittingly, it was the culprit, Bairstow, who did the honours, receiving a warm round of applause for his efforts.
But sadly, for the Australian team, that good deed went unrewarded, as England rallied to complete a 19-17 victory and take the gold.
”Heart, man, heart got us through,” said captain Jamell Anderson. ”There were loads of ups and downs but we stuck together the whole way through. We didn't fall out once. We held each other accountable.”
Anderson added that the team were motivated by hearing doubters suggest that they wouldn’t defend their gold medal.
”Listening to the commentary when we watched the games back, I heard them saying things like, ‘Nobody expected England to beat New Zealand [in the semi-finals]’,” Anderson said.
”Those were words we didn't associate with, and they motivated us to go even harder.
”We always believed, 100%. Last time, I wrote it on the board in the house. I wrote our names on the gold medal.
”I did the same thing this time for Glasgow 2026. As soon as we got to camp, I wrote it on a piece of paper. I've got it in my bag.”
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