There are times in the NBA when we see altercations happen between fans and players. Those confrontations can happen for a variety of reasons, sometimes because fans are disrespectful. Unfortunately, we saw that happen today.
A recent video has been circulated around Twitter, which depicts Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic coming up to a fan, confronting him about some sort of issue, and then grabbing his phone and tossing it. Jusuf Nurkic did not play in the Pacers-Trail Blazers game, and one can see that he is in street clothes.
Nurk 😳 pic.twitter.com/xFKNChXGli
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 21, 2022
It is unclear what sort of action the fan took to prove Jusuf Nurkic into confronting him and tossing his phone. The situation was obviously tense, but luckily a security guard managed to prevent it from devolving into something more serious.
We have seen times where players have gotten fans kicked out for inappropriate conduct. One of those instances also happened earlier this season in Indiana, where LeBron James got a duo of fans kicked out for “obscene gestures and words”, which he stated “shouldn’t be tolerated” in the game of basketball.
I mean nothing’s uncomfortable for me. It’s a difference between cheering for your home faithful… not wanting your opponents to be successful. Then there’s moments where it goes outside the line. With obscene gestures and words that shouldn’t be tolerated in our game. I would never say it to a fan, and a fan should never say it to a player.
Hopefully, we see a reduction in incidents such as these in the future. While light heckling is generally considered normal from opposing fans towards players, there are times when heckling ends up crossing the line. Offensive words and actions shouldn’t be tolerated whatsoever.
The Portland Trail Blazers ended up losing the game against the Indiana Pacers, and it’s clear that they’re trying to tank for a high pick. Perhaps we’ll see them get back to being a playoff-tier team next season, and it’ll be good to see Jusuf Nurkic back on the court next season.
