Odds and Ends: Knowing the Difference Between Sports Fandom and Toxicity
Jeering at sports athletes are not the same as a flat out personal attack on them or their families
The NBA Playoffs are here so you know this is the time when weird, “out there” news takes over the cycle in conjunction with the actual games. You don’t know why this happens. It just does for whatever reason. The latest discussion happening in the discourse is in response to fandom and how they act during games.
So recently Atlanta Hawks All Star point guard Trae Young has joined the ranks of Reggie Miller, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Isiah Thomas, and Paul Pierce as the latest edition of “Knicks Killers,” supervillains who were created for the sole purpose of ruining the New York Knickerbockers chances of postseason success. To be honest, that’s quite an honor! Young has even acknowledged it! His Game 1 performance was a spectacle that showcased a young star player embracing his role as the “bad guy” against a rival team and it was fun (if you’re a Hawks fan)!
What was not fun was the ensuing vitrol and mistreatment Young and his family has received after the game. Shouting “f*** Trae Young,” making fun of his height and hair is all over-the-top jeering that would not be out of place in an NBA Playoff atmosphere but the fan who was trying to spit at him crossed the line, which is a disgusting display of human behavior.
“I definitely didn’t see it, but there’s no place for that, man,’’ Knicks All Star Julius Randle said to reporters after the incident. “I don’t care if it’s our home crowd or not, there’s no place for that. We’ve got to protect the players. That’s disrespectful. Yeah, it’s our fans and I love our fans, but you see a guy on the street, you wouldn’t spit on him. You wouldn’t disrespect somebody like that. I don’t care what arena it’s in, whose fan base it is, there’s absolutely no place for disrespecting anybody in any capacity and especially spitting on him. That’s just ridiculous.’’
It has been happening through out much of the NBA postseason. Fans have been welcomed back to the arenas after being away for more than a year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. However — in true entitled, idiotic fashion — fans have been abusing players by either hurling personal attacks on players’ families and friends, throwing bottles, or attempting to disrupt a game by running on the court, endangering the players on the floor.
Sheesh… NBA fans can’t have nothing.
Look, I get it. People have been locked up in their homes for over a year. It has been a struggle trying to re-experience social norms and nobody knows when this pandemic is going to end. Sure, vaccines are readily available and the numbers of those infected by the virus have decreased over time but that does not give people the right to mistreat others, especially those who are out there providing entertainment in the world of sports.
The idiot nature of those attempting to commit actual harm to NBA athletes and those mocking athletes with nonsensical chants should not be perceived as the same. If you chant “Julius Randle is overrated!” then that is not exactly a harmful insult considering the season Randle had and trust he has heard worst. However, if you throw insults at Randle’s wife and son then you are crossing the line. You made the matter personal and have put someone’s well-being in danger.
Fans have rights to jeer at athletes. It is all part of the fun within the playoffs. However, people should be mindful as to how they carry themselves. That type of behavior is unacceptable and the NBA should continue to hold those fans accountable for their actions. It is impossible to police human behavior considering that nobody — not even the arena personnel — can keep those type of people in check. I mean it is not like you can ban 15,000 people out of a game if they all chant “Kyrie sucks!” In any case, people need to learn to relax and enjoy the game.
To quote the great Kevin Wayne Durant, “Have some respect for the human beings and have some respect for yourself. Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting on players or tossing popcorn. So grow the f — up and enjoy the game, it’s bigger than you.”
*additional content from Sporting News, House of Highlights, ESPN, NBA on TNT, Bleacher Report, NY Post
