Russell Westbrook stepped on Furkan Korkmaz's foot and rolled his right ankle.
Russell Westbrook left Game 2 of the Sixers-Wizards series early in the fourth quarter with an apparent right ankle injury. He did not return.
Westbrook went down after colliding with Furkan Korkmaz early in the fourth quarter. He limped off the floor and then was restrained by security after a fan threw popcorn at him as he was headed under the tunnel.
“We’ll see,” Westbrook said about his availability for the next game. “Hurt it twice in a short amount of time. We’ll see what happens.”
Westbrook finished with 10 points, 11 assists and six rebounds in a 120-95 loss to the 76ers.
Ernie, Kenny, Charles and Shaq criticize the fan who threw popcorn at Russell Westbrook during Game 2 of the Wizards-76ers series.
As for the incident with the fan, Westbrook said: “To be completely honest, this s— is getting out of hand, especially for me. The amount of disrespect, the amount of fans just doing whatever the f— they want to do — it’s just out of pocket. There are certain things that cross the line. Any other setting … a guy were to come up on the street and pour popcorn on my head, you know what happens.
“We’ll see,” Westbrook said about his availability for the next game. “Hurt it twice in a short amount of time. We’ll see what happens.”
The 76ers announced Thursday that the fan who participated in the incident had his season ticket membership revoked.
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) May 27, 2021
“After an investigation into the incident that occurred at last night’s game, we have determined that the person involved will have his season ticket membership revoked, effectively immediately. In addition, he will be banned from all events at Wells Fargo Center indefinitely,” the 76ers said in a statement.
“We apologize to Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards for being subjected to this type of unacceptable and disrespectful behavior. There is no place for it in our sport or arena.”
Additionally, the NBA issued a statement on fan behavior at games that said: “The return of more NBA fans to our arenas has brought great excitement and energy to the start of the playoffs, but it is critical that we all show respect for players, officials and our fellow fans. An enhanced fan code of conduct will be vigorously enforced in order to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all involved.”
The NBA Fan Code of Conduct can be found here.
The NBA issued the following statement today: pic.twitter.com/AVR9zXrkm9
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 27, 2021
Valerie Camillo, president of business operations for the Wells Fargo Center rebuked the fan in a statement.
“This was classless, unacceptable behavior, and we’re not going to tolerate it at Wells Fargo Center,” Camillo said.
LeBron James spoke out about it on Twitter: “By the way WE AS THE PLAYERS wanna see who threw that popcorn on Russ while he was leaving the game tonight with a injury!! There’s cameras all over arenas so there’s no excuse!”
By the way WE AS THE PLAYERS wanna see who threw that popcorn on Russ while he was leaving the game tonight with a injury!! There’s cameras all over arenas so there’s no excuse! Cause if the 👟 was on the other 🦶🏾.🎥 #ProtectOurPlayers
— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 27, 2021
During his postgame media availability, Wizards coach Scott Brooks told reporters that he was unaware of the incident, saying: “It’s very disrespectful. Philadelphia is better than that, if it did happen. Hopefully the kid or the person is banned from the league watching any games. It’s unacceptable. They wouldn’t do that down the street.”
“It’s a disgrace. There’s no place for fans like that at these games,” Wizards forward Davis Bertans said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
