Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder wants to see something “positive” come out of the racial incident involving Russell Westbrook and the recently-banned Utah fan.
“Anytime you have an incident that is unfortunate, you hope that there can be a catalyst for positive change,” Snyder told Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune.
During Monday's matchup between the Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook became a target from a couple of members in the Vivint Smart Home Arena crowd. As the heinous words sprayed down to the court in the direction of Westbrook, he decided to toss a few back.
Westbrook was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Tuesday for his response, but he notes that he wouldn't take it back if he had the opportunity to do it over.
“For me, I'm just not going to continue to take disrespect for my family,” Westbrook told Tim MacMahon of ESPN following Monday's game, “I just think there's got to be something done. There's got to be some consequences for those type of people that come to the game just to say and do whatever they want to say. I don't think it's fair to the players — not just to me, but I don't think it's fair to the players.”
“And if I had to do it again, I would say the same exact thing, because I truly will stand up for myself, for my family, for my kids, for my wife, for my mom, for my dad every single time. I expect anybody else to do the same. So that's kind of where I'm at with the whole situation. As for beating up his wife, I have never put my hand on a woman; I never will. Never been in any domestic violence before. Never have before, but once he said the comment, his wife repeated the same thing to me as well. So that's kind of how that started. I know you guys only got the tail end of the video, but the start of the video is way more important and way more disrespectful than what you guys heard.”
The Jazz announced yesterday that they were banning the fan for life.
It's unclear what will become of this matter as a result, but players and coaches around the league will surely accommodate one another in working to find a solution to these ongoing issues.
You can only hope for “positive change,” as Snyder put it simply.
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