NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke with the media Thursday at the NBA Finals media availability on a multitude of topics, ranging from Drake’s fandom in the playoffs to the history of basketball in Canada.
Silver also addressed Russell Westbrook’s incident with a Utah Jazz fan that took place in March. The Jazz banned the fan for life for making derogatory verbal statements to Westbrook.
Per ESPN’s Marc Spears, Silver said he thought the Jazz handled the situation between Westbrook and the fan well.
The incident occurred on March 11 when the Thunder played the Jazz on the road. After the game, Westbrook talked about how he was tired of fans saying anything they want to him from the stands.
Along with banning the fan who came at Westbrook, the Jazz also banned another fan for making derogatory remarks; this fan called Westbrook “boy” during the 2018 NBA Playoffs when the Thunder played the Jazz in the first round.
In the aftermath of Westbrook’s altercation in March, Jazz owner Gail Miller spoke to fans at Utah’s next home game.
“My heartfelt request to all of you is from this time forward, we all take pride in holding ourselves and those around us to the highest standards of decency,” Miller said.
Along with Miller’s words, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell spoke on how he felt about the situation. He said that Westbrook’s incident wasn’t the first time a situation like that had happened in the arena.
“I join other players in calling for all teams to take a stand,” Mitchell said. “We should not be subject to hate speech or racist acts at any time, and definitely not in our arenas.”
With Silver commending the Jazz for their diligence, perhaps other teams in the league can learn from the initiative Utah took during this situation.
