Russell Westbrook sounds off after fan throws popcorn at him: ‘Getting out of hand’

PHILADELPHIA — After Washington’s 120-95 Game 2 loss Wednesday to the Philadelphia 76ers, Russell Westbrook sounded off after a fan threw popcorn at him as he was leaving the game with an ankle injury.

Cameras showed a fan pouring popcorn on top of Westbrook with more than 10 minutes left in the game. Westbrook, who did not return to the game, said the fan ran off and wasn’t ejected.

He called on the NBA to “protect the players” and prevent such situations from happening in the future. This isn’t the first fan incident involving Westbrook, who got into a verbal argument with someone sitting near courtside at a Utah Jazz game in 2018 after the person allegedly directed a racial slur toward him.  

“To be completely honest, man, this [expletive] is getting out of hand,” Westbrook said. “Especially for me, the amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the [expletive] they want to do … In any other setting, I’m all for fans enjoying the game. It’s called sports, I get it. In any other setting, I know for a fact that fans and they wouldn’t come up on the street and pour popcorn on my head. Because we’d know what happen.”

Westbrook said players face a double-standard when it comes to dealing with fans, arguing the punishment for players would be much more severe than anything a fan would face. The Jazz gave a lifetime ban to the fan who called Westbrook a “boy” during the 2018 playoffs. 

On Wednesday, the 76ers made an in-arena announcement reminding fans to not throw objects to the court — adding anyone would be removed from the game. 

“To get food thrown on top of me, it’s bull—,” Westbrook said. “Fortunately, I couldn’t get to the stands. I just don’t take that … man. To me, it happens a lot of times. Obviously, I’ve learned to put it away to a certain extent, but I can’t just keep looking the other way. 

“There has to be some penalties to put in place where fans just can’t come to the game and say as they please because they wouldn’t do that [stuff] anywhere else, in any other setting. I’m sick and tired of it, honestly.”

The Wizards and the NBA community at large backed Westbrook after the game. Teammate Bradley Beal called the action “disrespectful” and coach Scott Brooks said the person should be banned for life. 

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James called for the fan to be publicly identified.

“By the way WE AS THE PLAYERS wanna see who threw that popcorn on Russ while he was leaving the game tonight with a injury!!” James wrote on Twitter. “There’s cameras all over arenas so there’s no excuse! Cause if the Athletic [shoe] was on the other [foot] #ProtectOurPlayers”

Westbrook agreed.

“As players, we are not surprised,” Westbrook said. “As players, they’ve got to protect us somehow. The protection has got to come somewhere. … We’ve been emphasizing this since I’ve been in the league. Because for me, I just get a different reaction from the crowd. … I really take this very, very personal. Like I said, I’m tried of the same thing. I see nothing change. Things just get worse.”