The Fan Rodney Hood Slapped A Phone Away From Tried ‘Pressing For Police Action’


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Rodney Hood was frustrated on Wednesday night when he was ejected, and it might cost him a whole lot more than a standard NBA fine.

The Utah Jazz guard left Wednesday’s game against the Washington Wizards after he had an argument with referee Tony Brothers, who ejected him in the third quarter. As Hood went off to the locker room, a Wizards fan nearby was clearly filming Hood’s departure on his cell phone. Hood didn’t seem to appreciate that, swiping the phone out of a man’s hands and letting it fall to the floor.

Hood’s ejection got more attention for the swipe, which was actually pretty funny if you set aside any potential property loss and assume this fella has a decent enough case to survive a 4-foot fall. Let’s watch and judge for yourself.

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Rodney Hood slapping a phone out of a fan’s hand 😂😂

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As it turns out, the fan whose phone took a fall did not find this funny at all. In fact, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, the fan was furious that security at the venue did not do more to Hood and actually pushed for “police action.”

The phone fell to the arena floor, and set off some drama. The fan spoke with Capital One Center security and Jazz security officials for much of the fourth quarter, pressing for police action.

While police are unlikely to go after Hood for the interaction, the NBA will probably go after his wallet. Technical fouls are already $2000 each, and ejections cost $2000 apiece. Fines for crossing the lines with fans typically go higher: Kyrie Irving, DeMarcus Cousins and Austin Rivers have already been fined $25,000 each for using profanity in exchanges with fans.

Bringing the police into this does seem like a bit much unless there was any real harm to the phone, but it’s safe to say that Hood will pay the price for this kind of thing. Though he may have been frustrated with a fan filming him hoping for a viral video, he didn’t actually do anything wrong or get in Hood’s way. That kind of fan interaction usually ends up costing players.

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