If it’s May, it’s the NBA Playoffs. With stadiums trying to reopen to allow more fans to experience their favorite sport, one might think there would be some modicum of checked personal behavior. Right? Wrong!
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As evidenced by Wednesday night’s Wizards vs. Philadelphia
game.
Yes, the Wizards are struggling in this year’s NBA Playoffs. Yes, they are down 0-2 against the Philadelphia 76ers (losing 120-95) in the so-called city of brotherly love. (The hype for Game 3 is already real).
But that really isn’t the storyline. Know what event people
are talking about the day after? Fan behavior.
Here’s what happened.
An attendee at the game threw (not spilled) popcorn on Wizards’
Russell Westbrook as he was leaving the game after he sprained his ankle.
In a postgame interview Westbrook spoke about the ‘fans’.
"To be completely
honest, this s--- is getting out of hand, especially for me”, Westbrook said. “The
amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the f--- they want
to do -- it's just out of pocket. (Read more here.)
Another report shows Atlanta Hawks’ player Trae Young being spat upon during Wednesday night’s game against the New York
Knicks.
What is happening?
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What is NOT happening is the NBA/Adam Silver NOT protecting
its players from the abuse (and racism) from its fans base. We see time-and-again fans lashing out,
shouting profanities at players. How long will the NBA, and sports teams at
large, allow their players to be subjected to inappropriate
fan behavior?
We know that if
a player spat on a fan, there would be consequences for days. So why doesn’t
the NBA do something about rude fan behavior? It can’t always be because cash
rules….(C.R.E.A.M.)
Wizards’ coach, Scott Brooks, said “Philadelphia fans are
better than this.”
We know that whenever we hear the ‘better than this’
mantra, people really aren’t ‘better than this’. Especially Philadelphia fans. Check this out about Philly fan behavior.
Eagles
fans are the absolute worst, and here are 9 times they proved it -
CBSSports.com
10
times Philadelphia fans were truly the worst | RSN (nbcsports.com)
And if you research ‘Philly fans’ you’re probably going to see more of this in the search results, than Philly fans being ‘better than this’.
Not even Santa is safe in Philadelphia.
But the real elephant in the room is that most of the fan disrespect is directed towards Black athletes. (ICYMI: We are living in a society where racism towards Black citizens is at a level that is beyond unacceptable.)
The fan behavior we see against players, whether verbally or physically, are assaults and the violators should be charged with assault. Plain and simple.
Message to dumb-a fans. Just because
you paid for the ticket, doesn’t mean you get to act a fool. Read the back of
your ticket which explains this clearly.
“On the back of every ticket is a warning that abusive behavior will not be tolerated and that you only get one warning which is your ticket. Any other incidents will result in ejection or even arrest if you get violent.” Source: NBA stadium guard.
How much fan disrespect (or possible physical harm) do players need to experience before protocols are put in place to actually protect players? Because clearly, just ejecting a fan and taking away his candy (game tickets) isn’t the solution. We’ve been here before and it hasn’t worked.
[Hey DJ, run that back!]
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And while there are those who say, 'not all Philly fans behave this way", let's be mindful that there are way too many fans who do 'behave this way'.
“I don’t care if you pay
$10 million for a front row seat. I don’t care if you paid $100,000 to get into
a ball game. It doesn’t give you the right to be disrespectful!”, said
former NFL player and co-host of FS1’s Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe.
Most people would agree.
So, what will it take NBA, NFL, MLB, MLS, (et. al) . . . before it is too late?
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