A couple of nights ago, the NBA had one of its most exciting playoff slates in quite a while. Emotions were at an all-time high as some games went down to the wire. Sadly, though, some fans showed that they don’t know how to behave and crossed the line between heckling and being flat-out insulting.
Someone threw popcorn at Russell Westbrook in Philadelphia as he was walking towards the locker room after an injury. Then, another person spat Trae Young as he was leaving the Madison Square Garden, but perhaps the worst thing happened in the final game of the night.
Ja Morant’s family was in attendance at the Vivint Arena to watch him play the Utah Jazz. Sadly, some fans started heckling them with sexual remarks and racial slurs, until some people alerted security.
Dwyane Wade Blasts Utah Jazz Fans For Racial Slurs Towards Ja Morant’s Family
Gladly, all the fans involved in those terrible accidents have received lifetime bans from the Sixers, Knicks, and Jazz, respectively. Nonetheless, that still speaks volumes about how some people think of athletes.
That’s why Dwyane Wade – who recently became a minority owner of the Jazz – shared his thoughts on Twitter, calling out the racist fans who insulted Morant’s family and encouraging the rest of the world not to turn their backs into these kinds of things:
“Ifwe turn our backs on this kind of behavior we’re all apart of the problem. This will not be tolerated! Apologies once again to Ja and his family,” the former NBA Championtweeted.
via Dwyane Wade
We get it. There’s a lot at stakewhen it comes to the playoffs. Emotions arise, nobody likes to lose, and home fans believe it’s up to them to give their teams that extra push to get them over the edge.
Heckling is a part of the game, trash-talking should be always welcome. But there’s a line between talking smack and being racist or disrespectful, so props to the franchises for showing zero tolerance for that unacceptable behavior.
