Source: Aaron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images / Getty
For some reason, whenever Russell Westbrook visits the Pepsi Center in Denver, the fans get a bit touchy. Last night (Feb. 26), Westbrook took time to calmly advise the father of a young Denver Nugget fan who pushed the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard.
The incident in question took place late in the third quarter of the Oklahoma City’s 121-112 loss to the Denver Nuggets. After leaping out of bounds on the left sideline, a child who was in the vicinity poked or pushed the 2016-17 MVP, quickly catching his attention.
Westbrook put on his dad cap and can be seen lecturing the child and his father. Speaking with reporters in a post-game interview, he explained how he told the father “to be careful” and that you can’t have your son just hitting random people.
“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.’ 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.”
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As stated above this incident is not the first time Westbrook has had an issue with a fan while playing at the Pepsi Center. In Feb. 2018, the Brodie pushed a fan who had too much dip on his chip and was not disciplined by the league. Let this be a lesson going forward to fans sitting courtside when it comes to NBA players—especially Russell Westbrook. Keep your hands to yourself.
