The Los Angeles Clippers suffered an embarrassing 104-113 loss at home against the Denver Nuggets, who were missing Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon. The exciting contest witnessed several major highlights. However, there was one unforgettable moment from the matchup when a spectator crossed all boundaries and got into a verbal altercation with Russell Westbrook.
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At one point during the course of the game, Westbrook got into it with a heckler. Initially, Russ had dropped the situation and continued playing. However, during the very next timeout, the point guard decided to clap back at the ‘fan’.
Usually, these verbal altercations between players and fans are over pretty quickly. However, this argument went on for quite a while. Not just the referees, but also players from both sides had to get involved and ask Westbrook to step back.
Following the conclusion of the game, Russ was asked to speak about the unpleasant exchange of words with the heckler. The 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player revealed that he wouldn’t allow any heckler to tarnish his reputation and his family’s name. In order to protect his son from hearing bad things about his father, Westbrook stated that he wouldn’t get into the details of the profanities used.
“I’m not gonna speak on it. Like I said cause that’s not appropriate…Respect is a big thing that I value. The moment that line gets crossed, I won’t allow it no more. I stood for it for years. Now that my son is old enough to know what’s going on… Now I gotta stand on it,” Westbrook told reporters.
It’s clear that Russ is tired of his family having to withstand him getting disrespected on the court regularly. He made it clear yesterday that he won’t stand for fans badmouthing the Westbrook name anymore.
Russell Westbrook has gotten into altercations with several fans
This isn’t the first time that a spectator has behaved disrespectfully towards Russell Westbrook. There have been multiple such occasions over the course of Westbrook’s career. And unlike other notorious players, Russ has never stepped out of his boundaries and gotten physical at any given point.
This past season, during the Los Angeles Clippers’ matchup against the Sacramento Kings, there were a few hecklers who were constantly chirping at Russ. With only 38 seconds remaining in regulation, Russ caught the referee’s attention and got the two Kings fans ejected.
A similar incident occurred during the Clippers-Grizzlies clash. Apparently, the fan who Russ had ejected, referred to the All-Star as “West-brick”.
One of the most famous player-spectator altercations that occurred in Westbrook’s career came during the beginning of the 2016-17 season. With Westbrook representing the Oklahoma City Thunder then, a Philly fan flashed his middle finger at him.
From the difference in the reactions to these fans’ outbursts, it is clear that Russ has changed in terms of being less receptive to hecklers.
