Who raised y’all?
No, seriously.
On Wednesday night, Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook was minding his Black-ass business while trying to avoid another embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers—SPOILER WARNING: he failed—when this happened with about 10 minutes left in the game:
After suffering an apparent ankle injury, Westbrook limped off the court and while heading to the locker room, some dumb ass (who left their proper decorum at home) thought it was a good idea to dump popcorn at him.
Thankfully, I’ve never had popcorn thrown at me, but the nine-time NBA All-Star reacted exactly like my Black ass would should such an occasion occur:
I get that fans are passionate. I get that fans want to immerse themselves in the experience, so they heckle and harass the players they both love and loathe. But there is no place whatsoever for this type of ridiculous, bullshit behavior. What would possess you to throw popcorn on a grown-ass man knowing that you would never in life do the same thing under any other circumstance because you would get your ass stomped the fuck out?
The hell is wrong with y’all?
The fan was ejected from the game, but that didn’t stop Westbrook from going off during his post-game press conference.
“To be completely honest, this shit is getting out of hand, especially for me. The amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the fuck they want to do—it’s just out of pocket,” he snapped. “There are certain things that cross the line. Any other setting [...] a guy were to come up on the street and pour popcorn on my head, you know what happens.”
Me too: They would get their ass whooped.
Plus, didn’t Ron Artest already tell y’all (with his fists) to pump the brakes with that bullshit?
“Very disrespectful,” Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters in a separate interview. “Philadelphia is better than that.”
I’m not sure that I agree, considering this isn’t the first time Westbrook has had an issue with 76ers fans, but teammate Bradley Beal kept it succinct in offering his own opinion on the matter: “It’s disgusting.”
After the game, Valerie Camillo, president of business operations for the Wells Fargo Center, released a statement condemning what happened:
“This was classless, unacceptable behavior, and we’re not going to tolerate it at Wells Fargo Center. We’re proud to have the most passionate fans in the country and the best home-court and home-ice advantage around, but this type of behavior has no place in our arena.”
On Twitter, LeBron James was one of many players who voiced their own disgust at what transpired.
“By the way, WE AS THE PLAYERS wanna see who threw that popcorn on Russ while he was leaving the game tonight with an injury!!” he tweeted. “There’s cameras all over arenas so there’s no excuse! Cause if the [shoe] was on the other [foot].”
Sadly, that wasn’t the only fan who got out of pocket last night. During the New York Knicks’ Game 2 win over the Atlanta Hawks, some asshole appears to spit on Trae Young. (And yes, that’s 50 Cent sitting courtside.)
Y’all are really out here wildin’ and fucking these games up for everybody.
Let us hope and pray that each of the offending parties are banned for life from attending any games in the future. Because while instances like these are an inconvenience, should they continue, they could easily become a safety issue that endangers both athletes and attendees.
Chill with that bullshit, y’all.