NBA Fans: En·bee·ay·Fans /N.B.A. fans/; noun: people who have a strong interest in or admiration for a particular person or thing, in this case of the NBA; short for fanatics.
In the last week, NBA Fans have had multiple disrespectful incidents across the country. From spitting and pouring popcorn to literally running on the floor, NBA Fans have reverted back to being the fuller phrase: fanatics.
Fanatic: Fa·nat·ic /fəˈnadik/; noun; a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal, especially for an extreme religious or political cause.
NBA Fans have slowly been allowed into the stadiums in increasing numbers since March. As vaccine numbers rose, and as the NBA began to understand the safest practices, cities and stadiums have let more fans in to create more memorable playoff atmospheres. The NBA and its markets wanted more asses in seats, but they were not calculating for more asses in arenas.
We’ve seen expletive laden chants, racially charged incidents, and concession stand goodies making their way to the tops of players’ heads. Monday night in Washington DC one idiot decided to run out on the floor.
On the one hand, every fan base makes the person misbehaving the outlier. After one Bostonian threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving, “99-percent of people there had nothing to do with that!” was the rallying cry (along with “and what about Lucky the Leprechaun?!”). And that’s fair. Only one of the 17,226 fans did throw a bottle at Kyrie Irving. Sure, the entire stadium chanted “F–K YOU KYRIE!” for the five hours and seven minutes of combined game times in Games 3 and 4, but just one threw a bottle. That makes it ok, right?
But in each of these instances, that’s not really an excuse. Yes, only one fan threw the popcorn. Only one fan ran on the floor. Only one fan directly confronted Ja Morant’s father… But far from all Celtics fans on Earth were at the game. 17, 226 fans at Game 4 are a fraction of the $3.2 Billion franchise’s fans. If anything, with the rising cost of NBA Playoff tickets, it stands to reason the 17, 226 fans were a small, well-off group.
They’re not the millions of Twitter trolls, saying Irving got what he deserved. It stands to reason that, had the 17, 226 Celtic fans been a more random sample size, there could have been far more water bottles. Or more. The same goes for the popcorn, the spitting, and the racial remarks. The idea that this is “such a small percentage of the fans” really works both ways, because the fans with the access to getting to a playoff game are also a very small percentage of the fan base.
As we wrap up May, Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s odd to take a lesson from Kevin Durant, but here we are:
Kevin Durant on the bottle throwing: “Have some respect for the human beings and have some respect for yourself. Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting on players or tossing popcorn.”
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) May 31, 2021
Full quote: pic.twitter.com/NpSTDUZbUK
The Kevin Durant quote came after witnessing his teammate get hit in the head with a bottle following their Game 4 win in Boston. Within his thoughts, Durant has to explicitly tell folks that NBA players are in fact human beings and not animals.
The NBA is full of mesmerizing athleticism, and that does create the spectacle. NBA players do so many superhuman things on a basketball floor: they fly, they teleport, and they hypnotize. But amidst all of that they’re never not humans. Pro athletes are just humans that are very good at a very cool job we all watch very intently. Especially in the playoffs.
NBA games can get crazy; the playoffs even moreso. But at no point should players feel like a circus, and at no point should the fans become a circus act.
What Can They Do?
The 21-year-old male who threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving faces assault and battery with a dangerous weapon charge and will be arraigned on Tuesday, Boston PD say.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 31, 2021
A second fan in Boston was also arrested Sunday night due to assault and battery of a police offer. https://t.co/lHhMiV4ur5
To this point, the NBA has been handing the players over to the local authorities. Local authorities then proceed with charges like assault, and eventually we hear about some sort of a ban from the NBA stadium. While most tickets get purchased through a third party (Stubhub, Ticketmaster, etc.), this is realistically as much as any franchise can do after the fact.
Unless- the NBA stepped in before something like this happened. I’m not saying fans can’t boo during a free throw, or wave their sponsored distractions. But the NBA could cut off the behavior at its source. Much like how the bar will cut off a drunk patron, even if said drunk’s money would be valuable, the NBA needs to get these folks out of the stands before they get too far.
We’ve all seen belligerent fans, both sober and inebriated. The staff at each NBA arena has, too. Writing out the unwritten code of conduct may feel akin to tennis, but if that’s what the NBA has to do to cut this out then that’s what it needs to do.
Other, steeper punishments from the league should also be on the table. If the fans are “a part of the game,” fine them. Had Russell Westbrook taken a Gatorade and drenched a fan, what would his fine be? If Kyrie Irving had recklessly thrown a bottle into a section of fans, what is his punishment?
Playoff tickets are not cheap, but adding a $10,000 fine from the NBA would make that one expensive bag of popcorn. How few times would it have to happen before fans really got the picture? The NBA could, in turn, continue to invest the fines into various, local charities. So go ahead, random Boston Celtics fan in a knock-off Kevin Garnett jersey. Throw your water bottle. You’re getting locked up, banned for life, and involuntarily donating $10,000 to NBA Cares. Was it worth it?
At the end of the day, maybe being a jerk is worth that to people. Maybe being able to throw expletives, for hours, at another human being isn’t enough and it’s worth it to throw a $10,000 bottle of water. To that person I say stay home, shout at your TV, and throw a water bottle at it instead. And when you’re done with your temper tantrum, donate the difference in money to a charity of your choosing.
For more on sports, sneakers, and fandom, follow me @painsworth512 for more. Give our podcast “F” In Sports a listen wherever you listen to podcasts! Be sure to check our NEW weekly basketball show, The Midweek Midrange, on YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram!
