Basketball – Spitting and throwing popcorn: the fans go crazy!

The Philadelphia fan who dumped popcorn on Russell Westbrook (Washington) was banned indefinitely from the Sixers on Thursday, and the same penalty hit another Knicks in New York, guilty of spitting on Trae Young (Atlanta).

Happy and excited, basketball fans are back in numbers in the NBA for the play-offs, but two of them went too far on Wednesday.

In Philadelphia, there was first the image that circled the screens of a popcorn shower that fell on Westbrook, as he walked back to the locker room after injuring his ankle, during the second game lost by his team in the 1st round. Very upset, the star of the Wizards, who was about to do battle, had to be calmed down by the security personnel.

“We have identified the person involved and they will have their season ticket withdrawn with immediate effect,” the 76ers announced Thursday.

“In addition, that person will be banned from all events at Wells Fargo Center for an indefinite period. We apologize to Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards for being subjected to this type of unacceptable and disrespectful behavior. There is no place for that in our sport or our arena, ”they said.

As soon as this sanction was formalized, another, of the same effect, was taken Thursday by the New York Knicks, after the appearance of a video, broadcast on social networks, on which, we see a spit arriving in the back of Trae Young, but not its author, out of frame.

“We have investigated this matter and determined that this person, who is not a season subscriber, has indeed spat on Trae Young, and for that reason she is now banned from Madison Square Garden indefinitely.” , said the New York franchise.

“We apologize to Trae and the Atlanta Hawks for the behavior of this fan, which is totally unacceptable and which will not be tolerated in our precinct,” she added.

“We appreciate the Garden’s response to this incident. Trae is focusing on the third game, ”said Omar Wilkes, the player’s agent, who declined to press charges against the spitting fan.

Coming out of the incident he suffered, Westbrook called on the NBA to crack down on unruly fans, saying the problem “was getting out of hand.”

“There are some things that cross the line. In any other context … if a guy would come down the street and pour popcorn on my head, you know what’s going on. We have to protect the players. We’ll see what the NBA does, ”he said.

The latter reacted Thursday morning, promising to put in place a “reinforced code of conduct for fans”. “Their return in greater numbers to our halls brought a lot of excitement and energy to the start of the play-offs. But it is essential that we all show respect to the players, officials and other spectators. ”