Were the Portland Trailblazers rattled, literally, before their 114-97 NBA playoffs loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday?
A snake - the Trailblazers think it was a rattler - turned up in the locker of their reserve forward Thomas Robinson before the match, ESPN reported.
Robinson said he had only seen snakes on the Discovery Channel until now. "I was scared," he said. "I ain't gonna lie - I was scared."
He said he screamed and leapt "about five feet high and 20 feet back".
Reserve guard Will Barton, Robinson's neighbour in the locker room, says he was able to keep calm while hopping up on a chair.
There was all kinds of commotion until "our brave trainers" caught the critter.
A Spurs official said it was determined later that the snake was non-poisonous before being safely released back into the wild, ESPN said.
The snake was black and white, the Spurs' colours, Robinson noted.
ESPN said rumour has it that Spurs shooting guard Danny Green collects snakes.
"That's the No.1 suspect right there," Barton said with a laugh.
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