76ers ban fan who poured popcorn on Westbrook
The Philadelphia 76ers revoked the season ticket of the spectator who poured popcorn on Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook and indefinitely banned the fan from events at the Wells Fargo Center.
"We apologize to Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards for being subjected to this type of unacceptable and disrespectful behavior," the 76ers said in a statement Thursday. "There is no place for it in our sport or arena."
While Westbrook headed to the locker room during the fourth quarter of the Wizards' 120-95 loss to the 76ers on Wednesday, someone dropped popcorn on him from the stands, and Westbrook had to be restrained.
Russell Westbrook appeared to have popcorn poured on his head by a fan on his way to the locker room with an apparent injury.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 27, 2021
The fan was ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/WgtvKMFYHH
Westbrook, who was exiting with an apparent ankle injury and has been involved in past high-profile altercations with fans, called on the league to take action.
"This shit is getting out of hand, especially for me," Westbrook said postgame. "The amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the f--- they want to do, it's just out of pocket, man."
"I wouldn't come up to me on the street and throw popcorn on my head," the floor general added, courtesy of The Athletic's Fred Katz, "because you know what happens. … In these arenas, you gotta start protecting the players. We’ll see what the NBA does."
Wizards head coach Scott Brooks called for the NBA to give the popcorn-throwing fan a lifetime ban from attending games after their "very disrespectful" gesture towards Westbrook, while Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James also chimed in on the altercation:
By the way WE AS THE PLAYERS wanna see who threw that popcorn on Russ while he was leaving the game tonight with a injury!! There’s cameras all over arenas so there’s no excuse! Cause if the 👟 was on the other 🦶🏾.🎥 #ProtectOurPlayers
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 27, 2021
Westbrook finished the loss with 10 points on 2-of-10 shooting, 11 assists, and six rebounds in 29 minutes. Washington now trails Philadelphia 2-0 in its best-of-seven first-round series.
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