Vernon Maxwell, a two-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets, offered his take on Sunday night’s incident between Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving and a Boston Celtics fan.
Irving was walking back to the locker room after Brooklyn’s Game 4 victory when a fan hurled a water bottle toward him. The fan was arrested, escorted from the arena and charged.
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Maxwell, who punched a fan in 1995 for heckling during a game in Portland against the Trail Blazers, tweeted that if Irving felt slighted he should do something about it and gave perspective from his own incident during his career.
"It’s just a bottled water right? If you feel disrespected then do something about it or it will keep on happening. Guess how many times a fan made a comment about my stillborn daughter? It cost me some money & a suspension but I sleep fine every night knowing I stood up for her," he tweeted.
There was an uptick over the last few days in incidents between fans and players.
Five fans received indefinite bans from arenas for incidents with players.
Washington Wizards guard Russell Westbrook had popcorn thrown at him, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young was spit on and the family of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was racially taunted.
None of the incidents escalated to the point where a player went into the stands.
The NBA released a statement reminding fans to behave or face consequences.
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"The return of 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 fellow fans," the league said in a statement. "An enhanced code of conduct will be vigorously enforced in order to ensure a safe and respectful environment."