A crazy scene transpired last night during the first-round NBA playoff game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Washington Wizards.
During the fourth quarter, Wizards point guard Russell Westbrook twisted his right ankle and had to leave the game. As he made his way to the locker room, a fan threw popcorn onto Westbrook.
TV cameras caught an irate Westbrook being restrained by Wizards team personnel and arena security. Video also captured Westbrook pointing out someone from the stands above the tunnel.
After the game, Westbrook spoke about the incident.
“To get food thrown on top of me, it’s just (expletive)," Westbrook said during a postgame press conference. "Fortunately I couldn’t get to the stands, but I just don’t take that lightly. To me, it happens to me a lot of times. Obviously, I’ve learned to kind of look the other way, but after a certain extent, you can’t just keep looking there another way. There has to be some penalties or something to put in place where fans can’t just come to the games and do and say as they please because they wouldn’t do that s--- anywhere else, any other setting, and I’m sick and tired of it, honestly.”
President of business operations for the Wells Fargo Center Valerie Camillo issued a statement, saying that incident "has no place in our arena."
"This was classless, unacceptable behavior, and we're not going to tolerate it at Wells Fargo Center," Camillo said in the statement. "We're proud to have the most passionate fans in the country and the best home-court and home-ice advantage around, but this type of behavior has no place in our arena."
Other players, including Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, quickly condemned the incident.
"By the way, WE AS THE PLAYERS wanna see who threw that popcorn on Russ while he was leaving the game tonight with a injury!! There's cameras all over arenas so there's no excuse! Cause if the (shoe) was on the other (foot)."
According to the Associated Press, the 76ers banned and revoked the fan's season tickets.
