Knicks fan spits on Trae Young
doubledragon
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in Sports Talk
A New York Knicks fan spit on Atlanta Hawks player Trae Young while Young was getting ready to inbound the ball. The story is all over the internet. In this video you can see the spit flying at him.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ylL1U2ptSq40
Comments
I think it's time to say that New York fans have passed Philly fans for notoriety when it comes to obnoxious behavior at sporting events.
New York fans wouldn't just boo Santa Claus, they'd boo Rudolph along with it.
This whole thing between Knicks fans and Trae Young started the other night when the Knicks fans were yelling f... Trae Young during the game and Trae Young heard the chants and he hit a game winning shot in that game and gave it back to the Knicks fans.
spitting is totally unacceptable.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Yes, it is unacceptable and rapper 50 Cent was sitting near and I think it the spit came close to hitting him.
I got no problems with fans yelling at players as long as it’s not racist, threatening or something to do with family. Spitting is a whole different level of ignorance, the fan should be arrested and charged with A&B
Check out what also happened yesterday, Russell Westbrook got injured and was heading back to the locker room and a Sixers fan dumped popcorn on Westbrook and Westbrook got pissed and had to be held back.
Lot of communicable germs in saliva these days. Some of those bad boys can be quite dangerous.
I agree - spitting at someone is not only unacceptable, i think in most jurisdictions it is illegal.
They're arresting people for spitting since the rona. Disgusting
Calm down Russell 🙄
Yes because popcorn can be a very dangerous projectile. 🙄
To have that extreme level of enragement over popcorn, in my opinion displays some very serious emotional problems.
Maybe but you still shouldn’t have dumped your popcorn on him, regardless.
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Yes Steve, it was very rude of you to dump your popcorn on Russell Westbrook.
I have crowns, popcorn is the mouth devil to me, I'd go a little bonkers too.
Long ago, my best friend and I were leaving Dodger Stadium after the game. We were standing just outside the seating area when a stream of beer came out of the sky and landed directly on top of my friend's head. Lots of beer. A direct hit. We both thought it was funny right up until my buddy got pulled over by the cops on Sunset Blvd. about thirty minutes later for a rolling stop. Quite a bit of explaining to do about the "aroma." When my friend told the the cops to smell his hair, they politely declined and let us off with a warning...... and a laugh! 🏟+🍺=🚔
That's because i ran out of soda.
Stop plagiarizing 1951WheatiesPremium ideas or you could get barred from your own thread.
Funny story - glad it had a happy ending.
🤔
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
If I've said this once, I've said it a thousand times. Do not throw iceballs at Dallas Cowboys players.
Instead use D size batteries. They have superior range and better stopping power over an iceball.
It was rude of you to throw ice and batteries at Jimmy Johnson that day!
Spitting is an obvious violation of the fan/player agreement. Popcorn dumping, while not something I condone, seems to be grandfathered in.
Players should expect to hear it from fans. Age old tradition.
If anyone watched Westbrook's post-game, he was adamant that this fan wouldn't dare do this "in the street".
You can't blame me for being rude - all my throws at him missed.
games should start being played in Roman Coliseums.
Agreed.
Local sports talk radio this morning (on my way to work) was discussing the Trae Young and Russell Westbrook incidents in NYS and Philly last night.
All three co-hosts were outraged at these incidents. They could not believe that fans would act this way. They sympathized with both players. They pointed out that if either player went into the stands to go after the person who spit and the person who dumped popcorn the player would be suspended (possibly for the entire playoffs) and/or fined, while the offending fans would, at best, be banned from the arena for a certain amount of time.
The three hosts were outraged at how much at a disadvantage the players are in situations like this. They all stated that something serious needs to be done to address and to eliminate this type of activity. They were all for protecting the players against over the top bad (even racist) treatment (verbal and/or physical) of the player by a fan or fans. They were all for taking immediate, effective, harsh and serious action against the offending fan and imposing very stiff penalties upon them (to make the bad behavior stop).
Very interesting to hear such passionate arguments by the three co-hosts this morning.
I started thinking and came up with similar situations that involve the same general dynamic.
It would be interesting to hear the three co-hosts discuss this matter under circumstances where the words "player" and "fan" were replaced with:
"teacher" and "student";
"police officer" and "person who violates the law in view of the police officer and becomes combative when confronted";
"property owner/business owner" and "protesters who choose to protest by smashing, destroying and looting";
"person on the street minding his or her own business" and "a drunk, a dug addict, a homeless person who uses the street as a toilet, and/or a thug" who assaults and/or batters the person minding his or her own business.
I wonder if the three co-hosts would have the same amount of passion and advocacy demanding something be done now in these alternative scenarios.
Westbrook makes how many hundreds of thousands of dollars per game?
If he had any proper temperament, he would have just continued walking and ignored it, instead of the gangster talk such as "in the street" nonsense implying violence over a fan's benign act of tossing a few popcorn kernels at a wealthy pampered basketball player.
It's punks such as Westbrook who foolishly degrade professional sports, which provides him exorbitant money, luxury houses, expensive cars, pretty girlfriends, etc. He should appreciate it a lot more.
If not for basketball, he'd probably be at a Popeye's right now saying, "Thank you, may i take your order?" for minimum wage.
Tell ya what, pay me a couple hundred thousand a game, and after each game you can dump a barrel full of popcorn on me. Throw in some half eaten hot dogs, soda or beer cups, or whatever...and i'd be smiling all the way to the bank.
Heck, for Russell Westbrook's salary, I'd let the fan throw hot tamale in my face!
Well by the time that the Celtics-Nets game in Boston ends tomorrow night I’m sure that Kyrie Irving will have some type of complaint about Celtics fans. This a$$hat hasn’t played in front of Celtics fans since signing with Brooklyn and he’s already creating an “incident” in his mind with the racist Boston fans: https://nesn.com/2021/05/kyrie-irving-hopes-to-see-no-subtle-racism-from-celtics-fans-in-boston/
I hope C’s fans give it to this fool all game to the point his sensitive a$$ has to take a personal leave from the team after.
Eric
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Agreed
I cannot stand Kyrie Irving!
I disagree. I don't follow basketball and don't know anything about Westbrook. But the guy is playing in an NBA playoff game, something he probably dreamed about since being a kid. He goes down with an injury which takes him out of that game, if not longer. That's a pretty big swing of emotion to heap on top of the adrenaline he must also have going simply from playing. Then some jerk in the stands cowardly dumps popcorn on his head while he is being helped to the locker room to be checked out? I don't blame him at all for being furious.
Professional athletes can be arrogant jerks, but there a lot of fans out there who give the rest a bad name because they believe purchasing a ticket gives them the freedom to do or say whatever they wish. I don't have a problem with booing or good-natured razzing, but crossing over into the disrespectful is another story. If Westbrook and that fan had met in the streets instead of where the fan was physically separated by stands and railing, I'd bet he wouldn't have had the guts to throw anything at Westbrook.
Players, usually but not always from the visiting team, have long been a target as they walk into the tunnel away from the arena. I really don't condone dumping things on a player, but I cannot come right out and say someone shouldn't do it. They are performers. They are exiting the stage. Anyone who has studied a bit of history knows that much worse was heaved at performers. In our modern society, egregious wealth has been given to them. That fan wanted to upset Westbrook. Westbrook could have eaten some of the popcorn and said something to come out on top. He instead had to be restrained by several men as he tried to go find the popcorn dumper. That is not the right move, imo. But as for the Popeye's comment, in my opinion that is belittling.
Todd - I'm not condoning the fan's behavior. The fan should have been escorted out of the arena. If it's at the end of the game or anytime during the game for that matter, the team can bar the fan from attending any number of future games.
My initial response which i firmly stick to, is probably because i've been in a customer service capacity my entire life through various job titles. Fortunately, I've never had anything thrown at me. However sometimes customers get angry, and get out of line in a professional business sense of courtesy, respect, and proper manners.
Without going into details, I've allowed customers to scream at me as much as want. For example if their order is late, and they've got a million dollar project riding on needing the product i sold to them, i don't blame them for getting irate and sounding off. Most times, i can take care of the problem thru various solutions without losing the customer or jeopardizing the timely completion of their project. But in any event, if i were to scream back at the customer, in my view it would not only be bad manners, but bad business.
Bottom line - The NBA is a business for the entertainment of its customers, the sports fan. While my example is not exactly the same as the Westbrook incident, it does have stark similarities. The most important point being a sports team cannot allow an employee, Westbrook, to go rabid and threaten a fan with physical violence. If the security guards hadn't controlled Westbrook, who knows what he might have done to that fan? It's bad manners, it's bad business, and besides that if Westbrook would have harmed the fan, it may have resulted in a prison sentence for him and a huge lawsuit against Westbrook and his team. All that over a few thrown kernels of popcorn for crying out loud.
The response from Westbrook was infinitely more egregious than the action by the fan.
<<< But as for the Popeye's comment, in my opinion that is belittling. >>>
As was the intent.
But overall, i agree with ya!
I've stated this before and i'll briefly state it again. The sports leagues have now jumped into bed with gambling and should be prepared for the inevitable consequences. I can't speak for and don't know anything about the fan who threw the popcorn. However I do know this...a hissed off gambler badly losing money, can set off even the most normally nicest guy. I've seen it happen numerous times.
There's going to be badly losing gamblers in their stands, particularly with the increased legalization and ease of placing sports bets. In the future, i would expect more incidents of various sorts rather than less, such as brawls in the stands, fans throwing things, general misconduct, etc.
Todd nailed it. Really nothing needs to be said after his post.
What's really strange is hearing thisistheshow saying he can't come right out and say a fan
shouldn't dump popcorn on top of a players' head. Nothing personal showtime but that just
struck me as odd.
My opinion would be if you're going to throw popcorn at a player, do it standing toe to toe with him
so you're there to accept the consequences of your actions instead of being some cowering loser in the stands.
The players and media are really irate about the misbehavior of the fans. In my sports gut, I don't like where this is headed.
A few observations.......
I am 45 years old. That is old enough to remember when the majority of the players really went after each other with true intensity. For the most part, that is no longer the case. As a result, the most intense, or antagonizing fans are seen as out of place. The players are all rich buddies now who grew up playing together. (With some exceptions). But athletes have been super rich for decades now, and it wasn't like this. Maybe it is to the point of no return. I am hearing a lot of discussion saying that the current state of "over zealous" fan is a result of social media. Does anybody remember how things used to be? As a kid I remember going to games at both Fenway and the Boston Garden (Celtics and Bruins) and it being evident that visiting players (and home players if they deserved it) got the business from fans. So this is nothing new. I also think a lot of these players might have gotten used to the covid/no fans thing a bit too much.
I don't want to hear about how it is the fan's privilege to be at the game. That is backwards and we all know it. I don't condone spitting on players. Or racist/obscenely derogatory taunts. But pretty much all else is on the menu in my opinion. And the players should absolutely not be trying to go into the stands after fans.
There is a generally accepted way that all of this has been done for generations now. So many things are being taken away in this world. I feel as though they need to leave this alone.
Here is a screenshot of a tweet from LeBron.
He is trying to say , if the shoe was on the other foot, meaning if the player did that to a fan, etc. My first thought is that LeBron and other players should be cognizant of the innumerable things they get away with due to their wealth and fame. Seriously, some of these guys can be so obtuse.
So lemme get this straight. Seems like LeBron wants to publicly humiliate and possibly ruin the life of a fan over a few kernels of thrown popcorn? Sounds a bit bizarre, and in my view borders on psychotic.
I would suggest that LeBron check himself into a clinic for some therapy...anger management or whatever it's called...and take Westbrook along with him.
@Darin Please allow me to explain my thought process here.
I never would condone anything being thrown at a player so as to potentially injure them. And I am not saying that this is a good idea in general. But there are countless examples of fans throwing popcorn or dumping popcorn on opposing players as they walk into the tunnel. This has been happening for ages. I do not think it is a classy thing to do. I wouldn't personally do it. I am just saying that I don't feel it is my right to say another fan can't do it if they want. There are so many instances of this happening, and generally the players just keep moving. Maybe I am on an island here, but I feel as though I have seen this scene played out literally thousands of times.
I can see how my comments could have come across the wrong way. I actually was trying to just defend the rights of fans to be fans. And the popcorn thing seemed like something that was being used to cause an issue by the league/Westbrook/media. It is being conflated with spitting and racism. And I don't like that. Of course spitting on players is a crime. Of course racist taunts are beyond the bounds of disgusting. But popcorn throwing/dumping is not part of that.
Stephen A. Smith sounds off in this video about fan behavior lately.
We're sitting here … I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're in here talking about popcorn. I mean, listen, we're talking about popcorn. Not a game. Not a game. Not a game. We're talking about popcorn. Not a game. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game like it's my last. Not the game. We're talking about popcorn, man.
I mean how silly is that. And we're talking about popcorn. I know I'm supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example. I know that and I'm not shoving it aside, you know, like it don't mean anything. I know it's important. I do, I honestly do. But we're talking about popcorn, man. What are we talking about? Popcorn? We're talking about popcorn, man?
We're talking about popcorn. We're talking about popcorn. We ain't talking about the game. We're talking about popcorn, man.
Man, look, I hear you. It's funny to me, too. It's strange to me, too. But we're talking about popcorn, man. We're not even talking about the game. The actual game. When it matters. We're talking about popcorn.
With apologies to Allen Iverson.
Like I said, I don't like where this is headed. A narrative is being put in place.
As @stevek said , they want to publicly humiliate a person, potentially ruin their life. Because that could realistically happen. If they could make an example out of a few fans, they might do it to prove a point.
If you want to make cat Jordan laugh, you'll have to do better than that, for cat Jordan is not easily amused!
Point understood. But LeBron, Stephen A, etc, are already well known by sports fans, and out there in the public arena. And they get paid extremely well for doing so.
The fan isn't seeking publicity. He paid for his ticket for an evening's worth of entertainment, and got a little bit carried away with his behavior for whatever reason.
In my opinion the behavior of the fan doesn't rise to the level whereby he could get fired from his job or other negative repercussions over such a benign act.
Sounds like Stephen A wishes to give the fan a public flogging? I thought that was banned around the time of the Salem Witch Trials.
Agreed again. Ofcourse Lebron is going to take the side of Westbrook, which is fine but I can promise you this has the potential to be spun in a more sinister direction I’m sure. Popcorn is not a dangerous object, it’s not even something that can dirty your uniform. Westbrook is over reacting, it’s no different that throwing a handful of popcorn in your mouth and dropping some on yourself.
Another fan fight broke out two days ago at the Astros vs Dodgers game. Here's the video.
I dunno. I still think it is an issue of common courtesy/manners, or lack thereof.
Take the situation and personalities out of it. When someone is injured and being helped away, is it proper to dump popcorn on them from somewhere where they cannot access you? I don't believe that it is, and that the fan paid for an entrance ticket makes no difference to me.
Including the injury in the debate is a valid point, and I had thought about that previously.
Frankly, if Westbrook was being carried off on a stretcher, and the fan did that, I would have absolutely been on the side of Westbrook, and showed outrage towards the fan. Even verbal abuse to a badly injured player being carried off on a stretcher would be quite repugnant to me. I think the vast majority of fans in the situation of a stretcher, often give the player a round of applause or cheer for giving his all on the court or field.
However in this case, Westbrook walked off on his own power with just a slight limp from what I can see. Meaning from the fan's perspective that the "injury" to Westbrook wasn't serious or perhaps the fan didn't even realize that Westbrook was injured.
Every athlete, all of us who play sports, sometimes have similar limps such as that any number of times over the years and it can be anything from a slight strain to a stubbed toe, often not serious. Sometimes it can just be a leg cramp. I've had leg cramps, painful as heck, but not serious, and i was right back playing again after a short break.