Russell Westbrook was anything but happy with the actions of a Philadelphia 76ers fan on Wednesday night. As the Washington Wizards succumbed to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, fans taunted Brodie, but one of them took things to the next level.
While Russ was headed out the court after twisting his ankle, somebody threw popcorn at him, which didn’t sit well with the player. He tried to come back and face whoever did that (and probably throw hands). Fortunately, the people around him prevented the player from doing something he would regret later.
Fan dumping his popcorn on Russell Westbrook, who's walking off after twisting his ankle. Fan should be banned for life. No room for this. pic.twitter.com/DXatcX8l9i
— Derek Bodner (@DerekBodnerNBA) May 27, 2021
Nothing else happened after that, but the 2017 NBA MVP made it clear that the disrespect he’s getting in the arenas is too much. The league should do something to protect the players.
“This s*** is out of hand,” Westbrook said. … “I wouldn’t come up to me on the street and throw popcorn on my head, because you know what happens. … In these arenas, you gotta start protecting the players. We’ll see what the NBA does.”
Russell Westbrook on the fan throwing popcorn: "I wouldn’t come up to me on the street and throw popcorn on my head, because you know what happens…In these arenas, you gotta start protecting the players. We’ll see what the NBA does."
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) May 27, 2021
Like Westbrook, more NBA stars reacted to this incident, bashing this fan to show his class against one of the best and nicest players in the league. This is just a game and if you don’t know how to differentiate that, then you have a problem.
Wells Fargo Center president of business operations Valerie Camillo released a statement saying this behavior won’t be tolerated at the arena.
“This was classless, unacceptable behavior,” Camillo said, per the statement. “We’re proud to have the most passionate fans in the country and the best home-court advantage around, but this type of behavior has no place in our arena.”
Wells Fargo Center statement on fan behavior at tonight’s Philadelphia 76ers game. pic.twitter.com/4GgNqYcdFp
— Xfinity Mobile Arena (@XMobileArena) May 27, 2021
We’ve seen how intense things can get with Carmelo Anthony getting heckled at Denver and Trae Young engaging in a little rivalry with the Knicks fans. The playoffs apparently get the worst out of fans and this is a big sample of that.
The Sixers are now 2-0 as the series heads to Washington. It doesn’t seem like the Wizards can overcome this situation. Yet, as long as they have Russ and Bradley Beal, anything can happen.
