Washington Wizards point guard Isiah Thomas was issued a two-game suspension on Sunday for going into the stands at the Wells Fargo Center to interact with a Celtics fan who was shouting obscenities in his direction. In light of this act, former Wizards star Gilbert Arenas decided to share his own story of a heckling Boston fan.
According to Arenas, a Celtics fan was shouting racist comments in his direction during a game, calling him “the N-word.” For a lot of players, this sort of rhetoric crosses the line. Arenas heard the remarks, but he decided to use them as motivation. In the end, the fan seemed to have a change of heart. In fact, the fan started wearing Arenas' jersey to games.
“In Boston…kid was calling me the N word…I said imma bust your teams ass and it will be ur fault,” Arenas recalled, via Complex. “Every time I scored I said it's ur fault…every time I missed (u suck piece of shit) 4th were up 15 I get subbed out and looked at him and said (n***a lover, u have on a Paul Pierce jersey) he started laughing and said u got me on that one.
“Every game after that he had on a Wizards 0 jersey,” Arenas added. “It's part of the game…just gonna entertain and understand…most of the time they came to see u anyway.”
Thomas later explained his incident, noting that the fan he approached was making vulgar remarks and gestures throughout the game. There was no physical contact, but the NBA has cracked down on this sort of behavior in recent seasons.
"A fan has both of his middle fingers up, and said 'F— you, b—-' three times. … I go in the stands to confront him. … His response was, 'I'm sorry. I just wanted a Frosty.'"
Isaiah Thomas explained why he went into the stands to confront a Sixers fan. pic.twitter.com/ZpYrmEHZKz
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 22, 2019
Thomas will be available to play in Saturday's game against the Knicks when his suspension is up.
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