Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas is facing a two-game suspension for confronting a Sixers fan who cursed at him over, of all things, a free desert.
The NBA pointed to its rule that “any player who deliberately enters the spectator stands during a game” will be ejected and subject to a fine and/or suspension.
Two fans were banned from Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center for a year, and Thomas told reporters that he “did nothing wrong.”
Per The WaPo:
“The league knows: I did nothing wrong,” Thomas said in lengthy comments to reporters after being ejected from the Wizards’ 125-108 loss. “There just should be a respect factor [with fans]. Like, I’m not going to go to anybody else’s job and call you out of your name, no matter how mad I make you. I don’t even know how I can make you that mad when we were down 15. We lost the game. That’s all I’m saying. I’m a man before anything, and that just wasn’t okay to do — and I just had to say something.”
The Wizards called a timeout with 2:53 remaining, and Thomas left the court to confront the fan, who was wearing a red Ben Simmons jersey.
“I’m never going to be disrespected in any way. My dad told me at a young age: Anybody call you out of your name — it doesn’t matter where I am, that’s not going to happen,” Thomas said. “When I missed the first free throw and made the second, I’m running back, and the fan has both of his middle fingers up and said, ‘F— you, b—-!’ three times. So then the timeout goes, and I go in the stands to confront him.
“I say: ‘Don’t be disrespectful. I’m a man before anything and be a fan,’ ” Thomas continued. “And his response was: ‘I’m sorry. I just wanted a Frosty.’”
