Late in the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, Marcus Smart toppled into the stands while attempting to save a loose ball, ultimately getting his foot caught in a chair.
As Smart struggled to free himself, he claims a bizarre and inappropriate conversation with a courtside fan unfolded.
"My foot got stuck in a chair and a fan told me, ‘That’s right, stay on the ground, get on your knees.’ Excuse me? I just told him, ‘Listen, just watch the game,’ because if … we were on the street, you probably wouldn’t say that." https://t.co/oBb0HHym1k
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) November 23, 2019
Smart says he ultimately walked away, but did point out the fan to arena security.
“They didn’t do anything about it. Just gotta move on. But that’s a problem in the league that we gotta fix because, if we retaliate to protect ourselves, we’re the ones getting in trouble, They’re not,” Smart said, via NBC Boston. “That’s not right. We got kids, some of us got our kids, their wives, girlfriends, parents watching this game and for you to talk like that, there’s just nowhere in this league for it. We out there playing and you guys are coming to watch it, we respect you guys, all we’re asking is to respect because, if we were on the street, it would be handled differently.”
The incident is just the latest in a string of recent run-ins between players and fans. The Utah Jazz banned two fans for life for shouting derogatory comments at players, while the Celtics recently banned a fan for two years after yelling racial slurs at DeMarcus Cousins.
