Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook was on the wrong end of more insipid behavior from a fan on Wednesday. Westbrook was fuming and had to be held back after a fan dumped popcorn on him as he was on his way to the locker room after suffering an ankle injury against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Westbrook, who has had his fair share of altercations with fans, said after the game that “this s*** is getting out of hand,” urging the NBA to look deeper into the matter. The former MVP has an ardent supporter in Metta World Peace, who praised Westbrook for keeping his cool.
To recall, World Peace was involved in the most notorious fan incident in NBA history. He was the main protagonist in The Malice at the Palace in November 2004, where he attacked a fan who threw a drink on him from the bleachers. MWP was suspended for 86 games and fined a whopping $4.9 million.
Clearly, World Peace knows exactly where Westbrook is coming from. But as he pointed out, it's a good thing the Wizards star eventually kept his composure and didn't repeat what MWP did. The fan got ejected immediately after his foolish act.
The Wizards lost to the Sixers, 120-95, putting them in a 0-2 hole. Westbrook only played 30 minutes and finished with subpar numbers of 10 points, six rebounds, and 11 assists.
It remains unclear if Russell Westbrook will be 100% to go in Game 3 at home on Saturday. But one thing's for sure, he'll get a lot of love from the Wizards fans.