NBA star Russell Westbrook had to politely check a courtside fan who decided to put the paws on the Oklahoma City Thunder guard during his game against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.
When the referee blew his whistle to indicate a stoppage in play, Westbrook stepped out of bounds. A young fan of the opposing team then lightly pushed the former MVP's arm. Westbrook then walked over to the spectator who was sitting with his father and spoke directly to the two. After their conversation, Westbrook and the young man can be seen high-fiving before he checked back into the game.Russell Westbrook pulled the dad card on a Nuggets fan after the kid gave him a little push. pic.twitter.com/b4nBTXlV9r
— ESPN (@espn) February 27, 2019
The Nuggets prevailed over the Thunder 121-112, and naturally, Westbrook was asked about the incident in the locker room following the contest. The former UCLA Bruin didn't take issue with the child potentially harming him, but it was the level of disrespect the kid had in thinking he could violate his personal space.
"He hit me. So I told his dad, 'Be careful, man, you can't have your son just hitting random people. I don't know him, he don’t know me. So, just letting him know, 'You've just got to control your kids,' Westbrook said to prying reporters."There's got to be some type of rule or some type of boundary set that you can't allow that."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 27, 2019
–Russell Westbrook after a court-side fan touched him Tuesday night pic.twitter.com/T2i0jpGT5W
The athlete also proposed a call to action for a rule change regarding the boundaries between players and spectators, which has become a recurring concern for several NBA seasons.
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"For all fans though, there's too much leeway for the fans to be able to touch the players and get away with it, and then you can't react and do the things that we need to do to protect ourselves," he continued.
"But I can't do nothing. What am I going to do, hop in the stands? But there has to be some type of rule or some type of boundaries set that you can't allow that."
Many online agreed with the 30-year-old father of three.
It's really ridiculous that Russell Westbrook, in the heat of a competitive game, had to momentarily check out & go into full dad mode to lecture a child who doesn't have much home training. You don't go around shoving grown men, kid (via @gifdsports) pic.twitter.com/2ZXBbTVRU9
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) February 27, 2019
This is why @russwest44 goes off on fans. I don’t care if it’s a kid. Keep your hand off of the ballplayers! https://t.co/2YeJWarX43
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) February 27, 2019
“You’re there to watch them … they’re not animals you can pet.”
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 27, 2019
-@mariataylor on fan touching Russell Westbrook during the game pic.twitter.com/oQ4G4cYG2b
Let's hope the kid learned his lesson.
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