Tuesday, June 1st, 2021
“We are not in the circus”
Attacks from fans infuriate NBA stars
The playoffs in the NBA are the best time of year for many basketball fans. But when they return to the halls, in addition to a good mood, they also cause a lot of trouble. Several viewers attack the professionals with words, but also with deeds.
Kevin Durant hasn’t caught it (yet). Unlike Kyrie Irving, Trae Young or Russell Westbrook. But the superstar of the Brooklyn Nets has fed up with fans who misbehave at NBA games and disrespect basketball professionals. “We’re not animals. We’re not in the circus,” said Durant, “the game is bigger than you.”
Hardly a day goes by now without such an incident. In the latest, a spectator stormed the floor during the Washington Wizards-Philadelphia 76ers game, a security guard knocked him down, and then out of the interior. Now there is a threat of lawsuits.
The same goes for a Boston Celtics fan who pelted Durant’s teammate Irving with a water bottle on the way to the catacombs after the Nets won at his former club. Young (Atlanta Hawks) was spat at by a supporter of the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden, and Wizards superstar Westbrook in Philadelphia was pelted with popcorn as he walked towards the cabin.
“Nobody on the street would throw popcorn at my head because they knew what was happening,” said Westbrook, who could be prevented by six (!) People from tackling the culprit directly. You have to start with “protecting the players” in the halls, said the 32-year-old: “We’ll see what the NBA does.” Most recently, the league called for more respect in a statement.
“Get the fuck out of it”
Each incident was different, but the pattern was similar. Guest players were treated like fair game, limits were exceeded. “I know people are stressed out after a year in the house during a pandemic,” said Durant, providing one possible approach to looking for reasons for the dropouts to accumulate. But nobody can look into their heads.
The incident in Boston was special, because Irving, whose departure from the Celtics 2019 was not without a sound, heated up the atmosphere even more. After being booed continuously in the game, the 29-year-old kicked the face of the goblin “Lucky” in the Celtics logo painted on the floor and turned his foot in the process. “Nobody says anything about Kyrie stepping on Lucky,” criticized Kevin Garnett, club legend of the Celtics, on Instagram: “You can’t do that. It’s in no way cool. We all have to get better.”
The provocation is not enough to explain why the fan lost his temper shortly afterwards. But it was unnecessary. People would have “paid for their tickets – great, thank you for coming to see a great performance,” said Irving later. “But we’re not in the theater. We don’t throw tomatoes at the people who run the show.”
Durant appealed directly to the visitors. “Your mothers wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting at players or throwing popcorn. Grow the fuck up and enjoy the game.”
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