The boyfriend (not husband) says that he made a comment about Westbrook icing his knees, since he was wearing what he thought were ice packs. He also says his girlfriend never said a word, and that it was her first NBA game.
I'm not sure I buy that, although I guess "ice pack on your knees" and "get back on your knees" do sound very similar.
That sounds about as likely as Westbrook meaning 'F you up' in a non-aggressive way (as another poster posited as a defense tactic of Westbrook).
Sounds like the fan was a jerk; I'd tend to bet that the comment was homophobic and not a reference to subjugation/slavery; Westbrook was wrong; He should get a 1 game suspension for threatening bodily injury and the fan should be on a probation list and banned if something similar happens again.
For The Win has an article on this:
https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/03/russell-westbrook-jazz
that includes a link to the fan's twitter. I think it is most likely that the comment was racist in nature and not homophobic. Either way doesn't make it any less revolting, though.
I concur that Westbrook should get fined and suspended and this fan should be banned.
I saw the Tweets last night but didn't want to post before confirmation (his account's locked). This seems like it's supporting that they're real - some of them can't be posted due to language but this is the one that stood out:
Golly do you think he's talking about California?
is there any proof that tweet ever existed? I can make that fake tweet very quickly in PhotoShop
Anyways, it doesnt seem racist still. Its still a reference to Westbrook he doesnt seem to target a race but continues to target Westbrook... So yes I believe its California but I truly believe that image is fake
That MAGA screenshot is supposedly faked. That said, there is no world in which you're credibly arguing that if it were real, it wouldn't be racist. Go back to... California? Really now? Please.
yes really. Why would a sports fan target one person racially? That makes no logical sense
Jackie Robinson among several others over the years say hello.
Sports fandom has never been logical. Some people take this stuff way too seriously, take it personally, just over imbibe, and end up crossing the line. It's certainly gotten better over the decades but there are still those out there that have no problem crossing the line with homophobic, racist, or other derogatory speech
There are three sides to the story here; what Russell says, what the fan says, and the truth.
Pretty sure what we're seeing here is neither party coming totally clean about what happened.