Kyrie Irving denounced the treatment of NBA players from belligerent fans at the wake of the incident between Russell Westbrook and a front-row fan in Utah. The Boston Celtics guard offered that no fan would talk “that s**t” to players at dinner or anywhere without police or anyone else to get between them.
“The [Jazz] fans are literally in the bleachers, sitting right next to you on the bench,” said Irving with Westbrook's incident in mind. “I don’t really mind the fan interaction but not while I’m at work and you’re trying to get (to) me because let me come into your office and yell in your ear like that.”
KYRIE ON RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Kyrie Irving says no fan would talk "that shit" to players out at dinner. Passionate words from #Celtics superstar after terrific question from @GwashburnGlobe pic.twitter.com/M7PupWZODF
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) March 15, 2019
The NBA is the most accessible league when it comes to how close the fans can be to the action and to the players, but that unfortunately has turned into some crossing boundaries and insulting players, just because they stand to lose more than an admission ticket.
While Shane Keisel received a lifetime ban from the Utah Jazz, it was Westbrook who was docked a whopping $25,000 for barking back at the fan — likely more money than Keisel would ever spend in Jazz tickets for the rest of his life.
Others like Kevin Durant, Patrick Beverley and Joel Embiid had dealt with the same disrespect from fans and are currently without much protection from the league, which has caused for plenty of NBA players to speak up about the matter and bring awareness to the situation.
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