Imagine this scenario. You bet on Virginia’s basketball team to not only beat Clemson on Tuesday but to cover the 6.5-point spread. With Virginia holding a seven-point lead and only seconds remaining, Clemson’s Chase Hunter. You held your breath but quickly exhaled, realizing that Hunter’s shot was well of the mark. Still, you lost your bet.
That scenario is plausible, thanks to one of the strangest player props imaginable.
Because while Hunter’s shot effectively came as time expired, it wasn’t true from a literal sense. The final buzzer sounded after Virginia’s Ben Vander Plas caught Hunter’s wayward shot attempt.
As fate would have it, Vander Plas over/under rebounds for the night was — like the point spread — 6.5. When Vander Plas caught Hunter’s errant shot with 0.1 seconds remaining, he secured his seventh rebound for the game.
.@The_Oddsmaker had Ben Vander Plas under 6.5 rebounds tonight
His 7th rebound came on this half court shot to end the game 🤮pic.twitter.com/J2NTWQohS5
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) March 1, 2023
Earlier on Tuesday, Sean Koerner of The Action Network cited Vander Plas’ under 6.5 at -135 as one of the better player props of the day, noting that Vander Plas had only grabbed seven or more once over the previous seven games.
After Vander Plas’ grabbed his seventh rebound, Koerner shared that it “Had to be one of my worst beat of all time.” Though, judging by his emoji choice, he seemed to keep a sense of humor about it.
Had to be one of my worst beats of all time 😂 https://t.co/rmL4RtgAgQ
— Sean Koerner (@The_Oddsmaker) March 1, 2023
He was not alone.
Noooooooo 😂😂😂 https://t.co/RR32MDayZz
— $ayLess$trictly (@SayLessCashMore) March 1, 2023
Noooooooo 😵💫 pic.twitter.com/9dLWdyRmY2
— Sean Little (@ChicagoFlow) March 1, 2023
I’m not sure what you can do but laugh in that situation. That’s an all-timer bad beat.
— GrandstandFan (@GrandstandFan) March 1, 2023
LMAO… that might be the worst beat ever. That deserves a spot on @notthefakeSVP Bad Beats @SportsCenter segment https://t.co/GhToEmEKJX
— John Ernenputsch (@jpooch21) March 1, 2023
[The Action Network, YouTube. The Action Network, Twitter]