Moments after Gary Harris drilled a game-winning three pointer to give the Nuggets a 127-124 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Russell Westbrook was involved in a minor incident with an excited Nuggets fan on the court:
Obviously, the fan is in the wrong here as he absolutely should not have been on the court – also signaling a severe lapse in arena security – but is Westbrook justified for pushing him like that?
It will be interesting to see how/if the NBA decides to do anything about this, or if the brief altercation will be seen as a no-call situation. It was the end of a thrilling game that Denver pulled off, and clearly the fan was excited after watching Harris hit that shot. Westbrook was just reacting the same way anyone would if a stranger got in your face and started screaming.
The NBA has rightfully been strict on player/fan interactions ever since the Malice in the Palace, but this is nothing remotely close to anything of that magnitude. As much as Nuggets fans might not like Westbrook, I don’t think he deserves of any kind of punishment in this case.
Let’s hope arena security can tighten up a bit so nothing like this happens again.
