There are a lot of perks that come with court-side seats to an NBA game. On top of table service, you get to see the action up close and personal, and you get to eavesdrop on the interactions between the players, coaches, and officiating crews. You are also permitted to engage in some good-natured heckling, so long as it doesn’t cross the line.
But leave it up to a certain subset of puerile fans to habitually toe that line and ruin it for everybody. Luckily, arena personnel have a clear picture of where that line exists, and they are increasingly, and commendably, intolerant of line-steppers.
That’s what happened on Friday night when a fan underneath the basket at the Bucks-Warriors game had some choice words for Klay Thompson and immediately got himself thrown out of the arena.
Milwaukee fan yells at Klay Thompson, gets tossed immediately pic.twitter.com/HYHS53bTDh
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 13, 2018
It’s difficult to make out exactly what was said, but after the game, Thompson offered some clarification.
Klay Thompson tells ESPN the fan called him a “b——.” He said “it was just unnecessary.”
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 13, 2018
David West, however, said it went a bit further than that.
David West added the fan screamed “F—— you b——. You mother———“ to Klay Thompson.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 13, 2018
The Warriors ended up winning 108-94 to make it 11 straight on the road, and Thompson finished the game with 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
Player interactions with courtside fans often veer into dicey territory. On Wednesday night, Rodney Hood slapped a cell phone out of man’s hand who was filming him en route to the locker after he’d been ejected from the game. The league subsequently handed Hood a $35,000 fine.
These sorts of scenarios obviously have to be handled on a case-by-case basis, but in general, it’s best for everyone involved to pause a moment and try to exercise their best judgment.
