On Monday night (March 11), NBA star Russell Westbrook verbally confronted a court-side fan for “racial and inappropriate” comments made during regulation. On the sideline, Westbrook is videoed telling the fan “I’ll f**k you up. You and your wife. I’ll f**k you up.” The exchange occurred during Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s game against the Utah Jazz (98-89).
After the match, Westbrook addressed the situation during a press conference and stated that the “completely disrespectful” fan’s statement was rooted in hate. “A young man and his wife in the stands told me to get down on my knees like I’m used to. For me that’s just completely disrespectful,” the shooting guard said. “To me, I think it’s racial. I think it’s just inappropriate in the sense of there’s no protection for the players. There are a lot of great fans around the world that like to come to the game to enjoy the game, and there are people who come to the game to say mean and disrespectful things about me, my family.”
Things get heated between Russell Westbrook and Utah Jazz fans again. “I’ll f*ck you up. You and your wife,” he says. Not sure what these fans said to him, but he also had issues with Jazz fans during the postseason. pic.twitter.com/LquwRmLVNy
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) March 12, 2019
The 11-year player noted that this isn’t a one-time occurrence, but it seems to happen frequently when his team plays in Utah. “Every time I come here, a lot of disrespectful things are said and for me, I’m just not going to continue to take the disrespect for my family,” he said. “I just think that there’s got to be something done, there’s got to be some consequences for those type of people that come to the game just to say and do whatever they want to say.”
In an interview with ESPN, the fan in question, Shane Keisel said his comment was “ice those knees up!” and that his interaction with Westbrook “started off as fun.” He then proceeded to tell the reporter that Westbrook’s demeanor later changed.
“He just went nuts,” the 45-year-old said. He continued to claim that his wife stayed out of the contention, but “no man should threaten a woman, period.” In response to that, Westbrook expressed that he would never attack a woman and he’s “never been in any domestic violence before,” but he claims Keisel’s wife also echoed her husband’s comments toward Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook says the fan and his wife told him to “to get down on your knees like you’re used to” which is why he responded. “As for beating up his wife, I’ve never put my hand on a woman. I never will. Never been in any domestic violence before and never have,” he said. pic.twitter.com/f9SugcpBTP
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) March 12, 2019
http://www.espn.com/core/video/iframe?id=26235367&endcard=false
In late February, Westbrook confronted another game-attendee for their behavior. During a Thunder match against the Denver Nuggets, a young fan touched Westbrook in a manner that the pro-athlete deemed to have crossed the line. “For all fans though, there’s too much leeway for the fans to be able to touch the players and get away with it,” he said. “…But there has to be some type of rule or some type of boundaries set that you can’t allow that.”