The NBA has a huge problem on its hands right now. It seems like, after a long year without fans in attendance, they just forgot how to behave, as we've already witnessed several incidents during the playoffs.
You saw it with Russell Westbrook and the popcorn-tosser, Trae Young got spat on in the Madison Square Garden, and a fan is now facing charges for throwing a water bottle at Kyrie Irving's head.
This is why Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green recently put the league on blast for not being able to protect its players and predicted that it's only a matter of time before a player retaliates.
Draymond Green Says A Fan Will Get His Ass Kicked Pretty Soon
(Transcript from The Big Podcast, via NBC Sports)
"When you take it so far left to where a fan is like, ‘if I can come to the game and I can get Shaq or I can get Draymond or Steph Curry or whoever to get mad at me and to say something back, he loses money. Hahaha.’ What’s the worst thing that may happen to this fan if I get into a screaming match with a fan, that he gets removed from his seat? The protection of the players went missing, and now they’re just taking it to another level.
“Not only is there no protection of players, but then you give all these guys face time. They’re on TNT, the same channel that we’re all on every day, they’re on ESPN, they’re getting their five, 10, 15 seconds of fame. The only punishment is that they cannot come back to the game. Who f—ing cares!?
“What it’s going to take, is somebody getting their ass kicked, and then they’ll respond.”
Hopefully, this won't be the case and we won't have another incident like the infamous Malice in the Palace. There's no excuse for fans to behave like that and it's not like they own the players just because they pay a ticket.
