With NBA fans returning to arenas to watch playoff teams, we’ve seen a Philadelphia 76ers fan throw popcorn on Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook, a New York Knicks die-hard attempting to spit on Trae Young, and on Sunday, a water bottle tossed by a Boston Celtics fan at Kyrie Irving.
It shouldn’t have to be said, but it needs to be: this is horrible and unacceptable.
Or you could listen to Irving’s teammate Kevin Durant, who stated a perfect response to these fans on Twitter last week. On Sunday, after the bottle-throwing incident, Durant delivered another simple response that every single fan should hear:
"We're not in a circus. … Grow the f— up and enjoy the game."
—KD after a fan in Boston threw a water bottle at Kyrie pic.twitter.com/AY4RJL3viY
— ESPN (@espn) May 31, 2021
“Fans gotta grow up at some point. I know that being in the house for a year and a half with the pandemic, got a lot of people on edge, got a lot of people stressed out. When you come to these games, you gotta realize: these men are human. We’re not animals, we’re not in a circus. You coming to the game is not all about you as a fan. So have some respect for the game, have some respect for these human beings and have some respect for yourself. Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting on players or tossing popcorn.
“So grow the [expletive] up and enjoy the game. It’s bigger than you.”
This perfectly encapsulates it all — a reason why we might be seeing more of these horrible incidents than usual and what fans need to remember now that they’re back in arenas.
Listen to Kevin Durant. Stop doing this to NBA players.
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