The Sixers 125-108 win over the Wizards on Saturday night should have been largely uneventful, as a win by one of the East’s best teams over one of the worst would not normally garner headlines.
However, in the fourth quarter an incident between Isaiah Thomas and a pair of fans became the major NBA news of the night, as Thomas went into the stands to confront some heckling fans. After the game, Thomas would explain what happened in the brief and surprisingly civil confrontation, explaining the fan had yelled “f*ck you, b*tch” at him three times after he split two late free throws. When Thomas approached, the fan told him he was just mad he wouldn’t get a free Frosty from Wendy’s as part of the Sixers promotion that gives fans a free frozen treat if an opposing player misses two free throws.
It’s ridiculous to be that mad about not getting a free thing that, quite literally, costs $1 when sitting in seats that close to the court (or any seats, for that matter). Thomas got ejected for entering the stands, but it luckily did not result in anything beyond a brief conversation to tell the fan to not be disrespectful like that. On Sunday, the Sixers announced punishment for the fans in the incident, banning them for a year from the arena and also revoking the season tickets of the person that gave them those seats for the game and refunding him for the remainder of the season, per the Washington Post‘s Candace Buckner.
Hopefully that stern punishment will help send the message that such behavior won’t be tolerated, as it continues a trend of players taking issue with fans crossing a line with what they say to those on the court.
