This didn't appear to be five full seconds, but the referee blew the whistle anyway.
Five seconds is five seconds ... unless it isn't five seconds. Make sense? Of course not, but don't tell that to the Charlotte Hornets.
Here's the situation. The Hornets have the ball against the New York Knicks down two with 35 seconds left after rebounding an awful Carmelo Anthony miss. They call timeout and draw up what surely was an intricate set play in the huddle. Marvin Williams is tasked with the simplest, yet most important task: getting the ball in. After waiting for a while because first option Kemba Walker was bumped, he spots Lance Stephenson coming to the ball. As he throws it, the five second call is implemented.
Here's the play in real time, where it looks a little closer to five seconds than the one with announcer Mike Breen counting. But it still appears that Williams released the ball before the referee's fifth finger comes up.
The Hornets went on to lose the game after Kemba Walker's game-tying jumper on the next play fell short. If only there was some automated way to count five seconds.