(CBS) A mystery man is getting a lot of attention for the hilarious, yet ruthless sign he crafted for the Cleveland Cavaliers-Charlotte Hornets game Friday night at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.
His sign didn’t target any of the players. Instead, it focused on his son, Thomas.
The smiling man, who has yet to be identified, proudly held up a sign trolling his son for getting bad grades.
It’s only March but we already have a strong candidate for dad of the year at the @cavs game pic.twitter.com/tFnT1qa50D
— Dom (@DumbMoreReady) March 25, 2017
USA TODAY Sports Images photographer Jeremy Brevard first captured the photo at the game. It went viral with more than 195,000 likes after ESPN shared it on Instagram.
But it didn’t take long for social media users to snap their own pictures and take screenshots of the jumbotron after it aired on ESPN before halftime.
Some called it a “parenting win”:
Get your grades up Thomas! #parentingwin pic.twitter.com/VynXBNiozu
— Dan Koo (@danieliskoo) March 25, 2017
Great Dad Move at Cavs game! #ManUp pic.twitter.com/3tQ8i2tBdT
— L-Town (@coachlawrence44) March 27, 2017
This is pretty awesome, this dad is father of the year. Period! @cavs @cleveland19news pic.twitter.com/nblBr1NErV
— Tia A. Ewing (@TIA_EWING) March 25, 2017
Others shared their own words of wisdom to Thomas:
Thomas not sure who you are but I bet you get it together for the next time. Athletes don’t lose out on a scholarship because of grades. # https://t.co/rUO5AnMk4R
— Shadow Mtn Boys Hoop (@shadowmtnhoops) March 25, 2017
Get ya grades up Thomas https://t.co/fzQtreass1 pic.twitter.com/JXtDEOWB93
— TheColi.com (@THE_COLI) March 25, 2017
#Thomas Listen to your DAD
Get your Grades up – We want to watch you play too! pic.twitter.com/ufo1MOJBn9— Dan Tegtmeyer (@realDTegtmeyer) March 26, 2017
However, some criticized the dad for publicly calling out his son:
Maybe if dad knew how to use punctuation, he’d be able to help Thomas get his grades back up. https://t.co/3EJKTpJcrR
— Adam Smoot, Tbh. (@adamsmoot) March 25, 2017
“Maybe if Dad wasn’t spending time making a poster for an NBA game and helping me with my homework instead I’d have better grades.” – Thomas https://t.co/QJuGsLzXtC
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) March 25, 2017
He’s a whack dad for embarrassing his son. Maybe dad should have used the money for the ticket to get Thomas a tutor. https://t.co/ddMROp8LA1
— François Mackandal (@Jigga_Jay_T) March 27, 2017
While some people disagreed with the dad’s unusual parenting method, most agreed that Thomas should still hit the books. After all, with Cleveland’s close 112-105 victory, he certainly missed an exciting game.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Thomas totally got the message.
It appears his dad made a second appearance at the Houston Rockets-Oklahoma City Thunder game Sunday, and he had a new message this time.
He’s back. pic.twitter.com/fJXtmfcpkI
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) March 26, 2017
“Thomas can you hear me now? Student then athlete son. In that order. Love, dad,” the sign read.