Game 4 between the Dallas Mavericks and the Phoenix Suns saw the Mavericks execute a masterful defensive performance to win their second game in a row to tie up the second-round series between the two teams. However, the main talking point from the game isn’t related to the on-court action, but something that happened in the stands.
A bunch of Mavericks fans allegedly harassed Chris Paul’s family, with two people forcefully hugging CP3’s mother. The Mavericks have banned the young fans, with a fan being tossed from the arena along with his family when the incident occurred.
However, there have been more cases of fans and players having horrible experiences because of fans when they travel to their home court. One of the most shocking stories was revealed by CP3’s teammate Cam Johnson, whose girlfriend was harassed and attacked in Milwaukee during the 2021 NBA Finals.
Johnson said the Bucks did handle it. Fan was thrown out and banned. He didn’t even hear about it until after the game and was obviously very frustrated about his family having to deal with that harassment.
— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) May 9, 2022
As a player on the court, there must be a lot of helplessness when they see their loved ones getting harassed in an away game. There are strict rules against players responding or interacting with fans, so there are a lot of things out of their control in that particular situation.
The NBA or the host teams need to do something to protect the families of the players while the player is on the court. If the player was to go into the stands and swing, they’d be suspended, so there needs to be a better system in place to protect them. Maybe ensuring security guards are always with family members from the traveling team or family members getting a private section to enjoy the game safely.
Hopefully, Johnson’s family doesn’t have to go through anything like that this post-season, even though Chris Paul has been a victim already. Fans need to behave better around players to ensure safety for everyone involved.
