While the Philadelphia 76ers battled the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday to begin a three-game road trip, Montrezl Harrell got into a bit of a back-and-forth with a fan who was heckling him in his return to Charlotte.
Harrell played 25 games for the Hornets in the 2021-22 season at the Spectrum Center.
The veteran big man, who had 16 points and seven rebounds in the loss to the Hornets, explained himself afterward to The Philadelphia Inquirer:
“I don’t know, man. That’s just how it goes,” Harrell said of being heckled. “It is what it is. Fans got a lot to say whether it’s in an arena, on social media or wherever it may be. People fail to realize the aspect that you’re just a fan, bro. Stay in that nature. Stay in the element.
“Don’t try to take it somewhere where it doesn’t have to go, because then when you do that now you are going to get the retaliation from me.”
Harrell is averaging 4.9 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Sixers off the bench, but he is starting in place of the injured Joel Embiid. This is another lesson where the fans have to understand that these guys are human and they need to treat them with respect.
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