Not even two weeks after the NBA saw Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook threatening a fan who taunted him with racially-charged insults, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes is reporting that the Boston Celtics have banned a fan from TD Garden for directing racist remarks towards Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins.
It’s not a new incident, per Haynes, as it occurred in late January. However, the fact that Boston banned the fan is new information.
“After that interview dropped, I was told the incident occurred while the Warriors were in Boston. Jamuary 26, that game. During that game there was a fan who muttered the ‘n-word’ at DeMarcus Cousins. And I was told DeMarcus informed one of [the] team security guys and they got a hold of the security team there at TD Garden.
They took care of the fan but I was told that ultimately, that that fan was banned for the rest of this season and next year. So he received a two-year ban.
I was told the Warriors and DeMarcus were just informed about that recently.”
Sensitivity to civil rights issues has become a theme around the nation and the NBA is one of the most, if not the most, progressive professional sports league in the country. That said, the idea that there are people who still feel empowered by racist rhetoric — even NBA fans — is nothing surprising, as infuriating and disappointing as it may be that there are still pockets of society unable to embody the spirit of unity and harmony.
However, as Haynes would note, the NBA does need to do a better job of being transparent about these incidents. Though there’s the obvious deterrent in that these types of situations could provide poor publicity for the league and create a negative image of it, if the league should show it has a no-nonsense policy for racism, sexism or any other discriminatory practice.
That said, the fan that was banned from TD Garden for two years should have received a harsher punishment. If not a lifetime ban from attending TD Garden, as the Jazz did with the fan who insulted Westbrook, then at least an indefinite ban that required the completion of a program geared towards teaching fans the correct etiquette in an arena and various aspects of sensitivity training.
