The NBA issued a statement on fan behavior Thursday in the wake of the latest case of fans crossing the line against players – and in advance of Kyrie Irving’s emotionally charged return to Boston on Friday.
“The return of more NBA fans to our arenas has brought great excitement and energy to the start of the playoffs, but it is critical that we all show respect for players, officials and our fellow fans,” the statement read. “An enhanced fan code of conduct will be vigorously enforced in order to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all involved.”
The statement serves to both get ahead of Irving’s first game as a Net in front of Boston fans – who will likely be even angrier after his comments on prior racist behavior by some of them – and a reaction to the latest bad fan behavior.
A fan in Philadelphia dumped popcorn on Washington guard Russell Westbrook as he was limping off the floor with an injured ankle Wednesday night. The Wizards star had to be held back by team staff and arena security.
“To be completely honest, this s— is getting out of hand, especially for me. The amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the f— they want to do — it’s just out of pocket,” Westbrook said. “There are certain things that cross the line. Any other setting … a guy were to come up on the street and pour popcorn on my head, you know what happens.
“In these arenas, you got to start protecting the players. We’ll see what the NBA does.”
The fan was ejected by Wells Fargo Center security moments later, and the league released its statement by mid-day Thursday.
“After an investigation into the incident that occurred at last night’s game, we have determined that the person involved will have his season ticket membership revoked, effectively immediately. In addition, he will be banned from all events at Wells Fargo Center indefinitely,” the 76ers said in a statement Thursday.
“We apologize to Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards for being subjected to this type of unacceptable and disrespectful behavior. There is no place for it in our sport or arena.”
It’s exactly the kind of behavior that Irving’s comments were intended to stave off – although they could well have the opposite effect. This sort of behavior has only gotten more common in recent years.
Four years ago, a courtside fan got ejected for flipping off Westbrook. In 2019, a Utah fan got banned for life from Vivint Smart Home Arena for getting into a verbal altercation with him while he was sitting on the OKC Thunder bench. That same year, Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas got ejected for going into the Wells Fargo Center stands and verbally confronting a Philadelphia fan he said had “both of his middle fingers up and said ‘F— you, b—-‘ three times.”
Now, add to this Irving’s looming return to Boston for Games 3 and 4 of the Nets’ first-round series with the Celtics. After two up-and-down years playing at TD Garden, Irving left in 2019 amid bad blood from the fans.
Friday’s Game 3 – which Brooklyn goes into with a 2-0 series lead – will see them at full froth, even with only 25 percent of TD Garden’s 19,580 permitted. It’ll be “near full capacity” for Sunday’s Game 4.
“It’s not my first time being an opponent in Boston. So, I’m just looking forward to competing with my teammates,” Irving said. And hopefully, we can just keep it strictly basketball, there’s no belligerence or racism going on – subtle racism – people yelling s–t from the crowd. But even if it is, it’s part of the nature of the game and we’re just going to focus on what we can control.”
Asked if he’d had racist comments directed at him while playing in Boston, Irving implied he and others had.
“I’m not the only one that can attest to this. But it’s just…it won’t…,” Irving said, with a resigned laugh. He threw his hands up and added “It is what it is.”
At that point, a voice off-camera – some have suggested belonging to Kevin Durant – chimed in “The whole world knows it.”
To which Irving agreed: “The whole world knows it.”
