The reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks began their preseason journey on Tuesday evening with a road trip to face the Memphis Grizzlies. For the most part, it was an unassuming exhibition game with high-profile players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Dillon Brooks sidelined but, as the second half was taking place at FedEx Forum, things got more interesting.
A fire alarm began to sound in the arena, with players clearing the floor and fans heading to the concourse.
fire alarm going off inside grizzlies arena. players and fans are exiting pic.twitter.com/9VNP1a3rVI
— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) October 6, 2021
Shortly after, the Grizzlies indicated via a spokesperson that it was a false alarm of sorts, followed by official word from the team that the issue was a sprinkler being inadvertently tripped.
The sprinkler was inadvertently triggered in a non public area.
Issue is being worked on. Update shortly.
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) October 6, 2021
This issue rose even more in prominence with a national television broadcast on TNT, and the announcing crew provided an update while the alarm was still going off in Memphis.
“There’s been no official call if the game will be continued…”@StephanieReady gives an update on the Bucks-Grizzlies game. pic.twitter.com/IlfSjgXqqf
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 6, 2021
Fortunately, it seems as if the alarm did not signal anything dangerous, and all signs point to inconvenience rather than anything more significant. Still, there was genuine uncertainty as to whether game would continue and, given the exhibition nature of the proceedings, the urgency level would not be as high as a contest that counts in the standings.