After a long overdue wait for the fans to enter the stadiums and watch the game live, a few select members have taken advantage of that privilege. Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks have issued a ban on the fans after they meddled with the players in two separate incidents during Game 2 of the playoffs.
Philadelphia 76ers were successfully able to identify the member of the crowd who dumped popcorn on Russell Westbrook. The triple-double record holder was heading into the locker room after suffering an injury.
The player was livid with the incident and had to be held by the officials from having a go with the 76ers fan present right above. Watch the incident right below:
The franchise have revoked the culprit’s season tickets and have also banned him from any event at the Wells Fargo Arena in the future. The number one seed in the Eastern Conference apologized to the player as well “being subjected to this type of unacceptable and disrespectful behavior.” Check out the statement from the 76ers right below:
“After an investigation into the incident that occurred at last night’s game, we have determined that the person involved will have his season ticket membership revoked, effectively immediately. In addition, he will be banned from all events at Wells Fargo Center indefinitely.
The Wizards ace had commented his stance on the incident and called for the NBA to deal with such situations which were getting out of hand.
Westbrook played for 29 minutes in Game 2 before leaving as a result of an injury. The survivors of the play-in tournament were subjected to a heavy 120-95 loss and are currently 2-0 down in the first round of playoffs.
Knicks ban fan indefinitely from Madison Square Garden
In a separate incident altogether, a Knicks fan was caught spitting on Trae Young during the Game 2 of a highly heated series. The Knicks caught the person, and issued a ban from the arena indefinitely.
The incident occured nearly midway into the fourth quarter when Young was he was inbounding the ball on the sideline. Watch the incident right below:
New York Knicks released a statement pertaining to the issue and apologised to the player and the franchise. Read the entire statement right below:
“We investigated the matter and determined that this patron, who is not a season ticket holder, did indeed spit on Trae Young, and for that reason, he is now banned from The Garden indefinitely. We apologize to Trae and the entire Atlanta Hawks organization for this fan’s behavior. This was completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated in our venue. We have turned the information over to the appropriate authorities,”
However, despite the fan’s actions, Young has decided not to take any legal action against him. His agent affirmed that his focus is entirely on Game 3 and the series, which hangs in the balance.
Trae Young has already got to the nerves of the Knicks fan base after his game-winning shot in the first bout. Following a defeat in Game 2 that levels the series up, he was seen saying “I’ll see in the A”, referring to the next two games of the series, which will take place in Atlanta, Georgia.
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