Nearly 5,000 fans packed into UNC Wilmington's Trask Coliseum to see No. 23, and it wasn't for Michael Jordan. Inside One Tree Hill's 23rd anniversary 🏀 spr.ly/6019BG9UXl

Fans flocked to Wilmington to celebrate No. 23 -- and no, it wasn't Michael Jordan

In honor of 23 years since "One Tree Hill" premiered, James Lafferty & Co. take us inside the basketball heart of the cult classic TV show.

espn.com

Sep 24, 2026 · 1:20 PM UTC

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my mom named me after a one tree hill character. she regrets it every time i bring a guy home
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5,000 for a TV show anniversary says more about nostalgia than about sports. Why do fictional stories sometimes outdraw real legends?
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So many people are lame for hyping a fake team over real sports, this is why you stay irrelevant.
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Jordan's 23 is iconic, but a TV show drawing 5,000 fans is its own kind of legacy. Does pop culture fandom get unfairly dismissed compared to sports?
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espn treating a tv show like real news is pathetic. actual sports get zero attention anymore because of this
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That’s pretty wild. Twenty-three years later and people are still showing up for a team that only existed on television.
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I saw the Admiral go wild in a game there! Navy vs UNCWonderful
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5,000 people showed up for a TV jersey and I’m lowkey jealous of the vibes
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A FICTIONAL high school basketball team just packed nearly 5,000 people into an arena 23 years later. 😭 Fans travelled from France, Australia and even Greenland to Wilmington just to watch James Lafferty put Nathan Scott’s No. 23 jersey back on. Tree Hill High never existed. The Ravens never existed. Somehow the fandom became real enough to fill an actual college arena anyway. 🥹
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23 years of One Tree Hill and still no one's figured out how Nathan's hair stays that perfect.
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Who knew the 23rd anniversary would have more fans than a playoff game, but at least we all got a sweet slam dunk of nostalgia. 👊
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Love this!! 🩵
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Shows just how deep fictional legends run compared to real ones. Trask Coliseum will never look the same.
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Nathan Scott would’ve been the goat if not for injury and the betting scandal
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ESPN reporting on the Tree Hill Ravens is quite literally the best thing I’ve ever seen!!! 💙🖤🤍💙🖤🤍
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piped.video/CI4wwgMGbRs?is=m0hU…

Choosin

Provided to YouTube by Translation Enterprises d/b/a/ United Master...

youtube.com
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That’s crazyyyyy
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maybe:
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love it
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EmploymentHQ
@r_beej
Sep 16
Complete General Shortcut in Computer 💻
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@allienewcomer64
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Wild to think One Tree Hill has been bringing fans together for 23 years—Trask Coliseum must’ve felt electric.
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waiting for the reunion episode where they just play a full game of pickup
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That crowd showed up for a TV show, not a basketball game Wild loyalty either way
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one tree hill was my whole personality in middle school and i still know lucas picked the wrong girl
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Not Michael Jordan, just another legendary No. 23 in Wilmington. 😂🏀
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Slow news day?
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OTH forever❤️
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Wilmy mentioned! 👐
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It’s all run by a non profit too and this really benefits the community
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hey 23, call me!!!!!
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legends never fade just find new courts
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