NBA ‘superfan’ wins overseas trip despite confusion over final quiz question

Lenny Dyer, a long-time NBA enthusiast, recently entered a competition hoping to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the US, courtesy of the Mai & Gatorade Official Basketball Superfan competition by Mai FM.

Dyer (Tūhoe, Ngā Rauru) made it to the grand final of the competition, which aired on national radio via the Mai Homerun Crew on Friday, May 31. With the all-expenses paid trip to the U.S on the line Dyer and his opponent, Jordan, were given the final question.

“So the question was, ‘Which NBA player averaged a triple-double?’” Dyer said.

“And I said ‘Russel Westbrook’ because I knew that was right, and they said my answer was incorrect. They handed it over to the other guy and he said ‘Oscar Robertson’ and they awarded him the trip.”

Dyer was adamant that the answer he gave was correct. But checking his research, he discovered that there were multiple correct answers to the question and that his answer was indeed correct.

Making things right

Determined to rectify the situation, Dyer sent private messages on Instagram to the announcers, explaining the oversigh, but to no avail.

It wasn’t until he made a post on social media, explaining the situation, that he gained some traction on his quest to get ahold of Mai.

More than a week after the final, Dyer received a call from the Mai Home Run crew acknowledging their error and awarding himthe trip to the US.

“I think it was just a matter of me getting in touch with the right people, that’s all. So shout out to Mai for reaching out to me and coming through in the end.”

Mai promotions, events and integration coordinator Glen Scotson explained the mishap: “The issue stemmed from one of the quiz questions where, while both answers were correct, we did not have Lenny’s correct answer on paper.”

With the controversy sorted, Lenny is looking forward to the all-expenses paid trip to New York next year for him and a friend.