New video shows why Russell Westbrook may have had Kings fans ejected

Mar 3, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook (0) looks on during halftime against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

New footage is providing more context on Russell Westbrook’s incident in Sacramento last week.

A different angle surfaced on Tuesday of the moment that the LA Clippers guard Westbrook had a pair of courtside Kings fans ejected from Friday’s game. In the new video, you can see that one of the fans (wearing black) stood up and did Westbrook’s famous “rock the baby” gesture toward him coming out of a timeout. Westbrook then walked up to the fan, called over security, and had both that fan and another one next to him (wearing beige) ejected on the spot.

Russ apparently had an issue with a fan doing the “rock the baby” taunt and had him ejected

(Via @DyLyMatsuTran) pic.twitter.com/7anOU4ZvCQ

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 8, 2023

The incident occurred with 38.4 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the eventual 128-127 Kings victory. Earlier footage showed a close-up of the incident but without any of the lead-up (you can see that video here).

It is possible that the fans had also said something earlier on to provoke Westbrook (the Clippers were shooting on that end of the floor for the entire second half to that point). But if “rocking the baby” is all that they did, that would be a pretty soft look for Westbrook (though not an entirely surprising one given his history with opposing fans).