Things got a bit out of hand towards the end of Wednesday night's playoff matchup between the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers. During the second half of the game, Wizards Point Guard Russell Westbrook turned his ankle and was forced to leave the game. Frustrated by his injury, the former NBA MVP was escorted to the locker room by team personnel. As the group neared the tunnel, a fan appears to have poured popcorn on Westbrook and Wizards' personnel. Enranged by the disrespectful action, Westbrook attempted to push through team personnel and get to the fan. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed and Westbrook left the arena. Adding on, the fan was promptly identified and removed from the Wells Fargo Center. After the game ended, Westbrook addressed the matter during a press conference.
"To be completely honest, this s--- is getting out of hand, especially for me. The amount of disrespect, the [number] of fans just doing whatever the f--- they want to do -- it's just out of pocket," Westbrook said.
"There are certain things that cross the line. [In] any other setting, [if] a guy was to come up on the street and pour popcorn on my head, you know what happens."
Westbrook was not the only player to call out the fan's actions. His teammate, Bradley Beal, called the move "disgusting" and Wizards Head Coach Scott Brooks said it was "very disrespectful" to our food on anyone's head. Adding to the discourse, reigning NBA Finals MVP LeBron James called on the NBA to reveal the identity of the fan to players around the league.
"By the way, we as the players [want to] see who threw that popcorn on Russ [Westbrook] while he was leaving the game tonight with [an] injury! There [are] cameras all over arenas so there's no excuse," he tweeted.
Moving forward, Westbrook hopes the league will hold fans accountable for any wrongdoing.
"In these arenas, you got to start protecting the players. We'll see what the NBA does," Westbrook added.
Westbrook and the Wizards will return to the "Chocolate City" for game three of their first-round series against the 76ers on May 29.
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