Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook has been fined $25,000 by NBA for the incident with Utah fan Monday night, reports Sham Charania of The Athletic.
Despite the Thunder winning handily and a near triple-double from Westbrook, his altercation with Shane Keisel stole the show. In the heated NSFW exchange, Westbrook threatened Keisel and his wife after the spectator reportedly crossed the line and made things personal for Westbrook:
Video Contains NSFW Language
Westbrook was shown on video telling the fan “I’ll f**k you up, you and your wife,” after something was said to him. Multiple Thunder teammates rushed to defend the star. Some of the comments made by the man and reportedly his wife as well came to light, creating an even more tense situation.
Now Keisel is planning to file a lawsuit against Westbrook for the incident, as Felicia Martinez of KSL TV reported.
“Keisel said there were no racial remarks made from him or anyone around him. He said he’s filing a lawsuit against Russell Westbrook, and he’s has been advised to shut down his social media accounts.”
Westbrook addressed the situation after the game in a video which was revealed by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Westbrook states that the fan told him to “get down on your knees like you’re used to.”
Video Contains NSFW Language
Russell Westbrook says the comment from the Jazz fan that set him off was: “Get down on your knees like you’re used to.”
Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune released the full statement from Westbrook on the interaction with the fan. Here’s a piece of what the Thunder guard had to say on the situation:
“Obviously, everybody’s talking about the same video. The realization of it is, how it started was, a young man and his wife in the stands told me “to get down on my knees like you used to.” To me, that’s just completely disrespectful, to me, I think it’s racial, and I think it’s inappropriate in the sense that there’s no protection or the players. I think there are a lot of great fans that like to come to the game and enjoy the game. And then there are people that come to the game to say disrespectful things about me, my family.”
He proceeded to say that “throughout the whole game, throughout since I’ve been here, especially in Utah, every time I come here there’s a lot of disrespectful things that’s said.”
Keisel also provided comments after the game. Westbrook has yet to respond with a statement regarding the fine.
Stay tuned for further updates.
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Russell Westbrook Fined $25K for Utah Jazz Fan Incident