The Philadelphia 76ers said Thursday that they have immediately revoked the season-ticket membership from the fan who threw popcorn on Washington guard Russell Westbrook, plus banned him from all events at their arena indefinitely.
The New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz banned a total of five fans from their respective arenas and issued apologies Thursday for incidents during playoff games, and the NBA said that rules surrounding fan behavior will be “vigorously enforced” going forward. All three incidents took place during playoff games Wednesday. The Knicks said they banned a fan from Madison Square Garden for spitting on Atlanta guard Trae Young, the 76ers banned a fan who threw popcorn on Washington guard Russell Westbrook, and the Jazz said three of their fans were banned indefinitely following a verbal altercation. “We’re just living in a society where people don’t have respect anymore,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said Thursday. “In no way should that be allowed, or should that happen, at a sporting event or really any event.… I think New York did what it should have done in that situation. It’s uncalled for.” The 76ers went even further than the Knicks could, because the fan involved in the Westbrook incident was a season-ticket holder. Those tickets have been revoked, and he was banned from all events at their arena. None of the three teams released the names of the fans who were involved. The Knicks said they forwarded information to authorities. “We investigated the matter and determined that this patron, who is not a season-ticket holder, did indeed spit on Trae Young, and for that reason, he is now banned from The Garden indefinitely,” the Knicks said. “We apologize to Trae and the entire Atlanta Hawks organization for this fan’s behavior.” Video showed that someone spit on Young while he was preparing to inbound the basketball in the fourth quarter of New York’s win over Atlanta at Madison Square Garden. Young did not mention it in his postgame interviews and McMillan said he was unaware of the incident until Thursday morning. Young was the subject of profane chants from some fans in that arena throughout the first two games of the series; the Hawks’ guard taunted them right back after his shot with less than a second left gave Atlanta a win in Game 1.
