League Action Against Kyrie Watch

[timpiker]

I'm thinking 4-game suspension and loss of a first-round draft pick would be appropriate.

Mike

I like how you think Mike.

[SHAQATTACK]

I'm thinking 4-game suspension and loss of a first-round draft pick would be appropriate.

Mike

I like how you think Mike.

I think that gets the owners attention

[Moranis]

Westbrook alone has gone into or at least tried to go into the stands on two different occasions.  He had the incident in Utah (Westbrook was fined 25k and the fan was banned for life) and then the incident in Philadelphia (the fan poured popcorn on his head when he was walking to the tunnel).  That is far worse than Irving flipping the bird from the court. 

Trae Young was spit on not that long ago, he thankfully didn't lash out. 

Heck, in Boston last year Irving had a water bottle thrown at him and the fan was arrested for attempted assault and battery. 

Utah had the incident with Morant's family resulting in several fans getting banned. 

We even had that guy run onto the court and get creamed by security in a playoff game last year.

And then you have things like this, where Durant is cussing out a fan for telling Durant "he has to take this game over"
https://twitter.com/DeLo_77/status/1504293717922009094?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1504293717922009094%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2F2022%2F03%2F17%2Fkevin-durant-fan-fight-nets-game%2F

Those have all been in the last year or so.  Fans have been crossing the line more and more, which is why you are seeing players lash out more and more (or in the case of Durant, him just being the a hole he is). 

[celticsclay]

Westbrook alone has gone into or at least tried to go into the stands on two different occasions.  He had the incident in Utah (Westbrook was fined 25k and the fan was banned for life) and then the incident in Philadelphia (the fan poured popcorn on his head when he was walking to the tunnel).  That is far worse than Irving flipping the bird from the court. 

Trae Young was spit on not that long ago, he thankfully didn't lash out. 

Heck, in Boston last year Irving had a water bottle thrown at him and the fan was arrested for attempted assault and battery. 

Utah had the incident with Morant's family resulting in several fans getting banned. 

We even had that guy run onto the court and get creamed by security in a playoff game last year.

And then you have things like this, where Durant is cussing out a fan for telling Durant "he has to take this game over"
https://twitter.com/DeLo_77/status/1504293717922009094?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1504293717922009094%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffansided.com%2F2022%2F03%2F17%2Fkevin-durant-fan-fight-nets-game%2F

Those have all been in the last year or so.  Fans have been crossing the line more and more, which is why you are seeing players lash out more and more (or in the case of Durant, him just being the a hole he is).

I’ll keep saying it because people are being willfully ignorant here. Everyone is aware that there have been a lot of single incidents in a game, everyone is aware of it. We all see this stuff going back even further than Barkley. What is unique in this situation is that kyrie had three separate incidents in the same game. If barkley went in the stands and spit on a girl in the first quarter, a 60 year old man in the second and then swore it someone in the stands in the 4th. It would have really concerned people. On top of this all, irving has expressed no remorse and basically vowed to the same thing game 2. Even more concerning he vaguely talked about escalating the situations by saying he stared down the fans to see if people were about it (which is a pretty common phrase for talking about fighting). Let’s stop this charade of acting like this isn’t a unique situation. It’s pretty boring and silly argument to make. If people want to say there is no problem with players constantly cursing at fans and flicking them off, I would love to hear it. But I don’t think the nets, Celtics are nba feel that way.

[Moranis]

No one is being willfully ignorant, it is just no one believes that distinction is worth drawing or means anything.  Perhaps if the security had done its job none of the incidents would have happened or maybe only the first.  Because Boston security didn't do anything the fans kept escalating it and making it worse. Put the blame where it belongs, on security for not doing its job.

[celticsclay]

No one is being willfully ignorant, it is just no one believes that distinction is worth drawing or means anything.  Perhaps if the security had done its job none of the incidents would have happened or maybe only the first.  Because Boston security didn't do anything the fans kept escalating it and making it worse. Put the blame where it belongs, on security for not doing its job.

Just keeping digging eh mo? You have a fan yell “you suck” and Irving immediately yells back at him tell him to suck on his you know what. What do you think security could have done here exactly? Immediately tackled the guy before irving had a half second to respond? How often do you think every star player in the league hears being told they suck on a nightly basis? How many yell back and discuss fellatio? Again, this is just bizarre behavior on your part to be all over the place. First it is “this happens all the time” now realizing it actually doesn’t “this is all securities fault.” What’s next blaming mercury retrograde? Also just from the history of the events you yourself listed we know the NBA doesn’t want this. Such a strange hill to die on. Some things really don’t need a contrarian take.

[Moranis]

They aren't mutually exclusive.  Security absolutely should have done a better job and these things happen all of the time.  Fan conduct has been deteriorating for years, but it is especially problematic since the return from covid.  That is why there have been significantly more incidents involving players in the last year or so and why more and more players are responding to it. If what Irving alleges was yelled at him, then the fans should have been removed from the game.  It was offensive and has no place in the arena, yet no fan was removed.  And this is an escalating problem in Boston with Irving.  Security has to be better in game 2.

[dannyboy35]

  I’m dead serious when I say Kyrie I’d building in an excuse to stop playing in case his team starts looking like they’re gonna lose the series . He’s just looking for a reason to sit out.

[moiso]

  I’m dead serious when I say Kyrie I’d building in an excuse to stop playing in case his team starts looking like they’re gonna lose the series . He’s just looking for a reason to sit out.

Some people will think this is far fetched but there may some truth to it.  It wouldn't surprise me at all if the situation looks bleak for the Nets there is a good chance it will bring out some more ridiculous behavior from Irving such as going home for the rest of the season.

[Roy H.]

This is only a "big deal" because of image, I think.

The NBA doesn't want its stars associated with vulgarity.  That might offend the part of the audience that skews old and more wealthy. 

But, is what the fans did a "big deal"?  Not really.  Stuff like this has happened for decades, and will continue to happen when fans are allowed to be on top of the players.  That's particularly true, of course, when liquid courage is served at the games.  There's a fine line between a hostile crowd and an unruly one.  Hopefully security pays attention and knows the difference.

Are Kyrie's actions a "big deal"?  Not really.  The crowd tried to get in his head; he let it fuel him.  It's similar to Reggie Miller, except Miller used different hand gestures that weren't deemed "offensive".  To me, I respect the focus of Kyrie, to be able to perform like that under pressure.  He's a nutjob and a flake, but he's also got a game that few can replicate.

So, much adieu about nothing.  Add a few more security guards, fine Kyrie $50k (times however many separate incidents the league determined) and tune in Wednesday for a rematch.   

[SHAQATTACK]

So if Kyrie gets fined, should the same happen to identified fans? I don't know if anyone saw the video of Kyrie walking into the locker room at halftime. He was minding his own business and a fan yelled "You suck Kyrie!". Kyrie responded with a pretty vulgar response. Should there be some repercussion for that fan?

Well Kyrie should get fined, at least 15-25k based on precedence. https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=nba+max+fine+for+abscene+commnt+to+fan&ia=web (Notice Marcus made the list)
Fans certainly should be held accountable. Ejections, bans from the Garden, loss of season tickets are all possibilities. If "all" the fan said was "Kyrie you suck" I think there will be no penalty. Celticsstrong has a conservative language policy and this wasn't censored.

LOL if we're really giving out punishments for saying, "player, you suck" then most of these arenas would be empty by now 

Yeah….LOL ..OMG ...I would have never played any kids sports ,  people yell obscene comments , parents , coaches ,  friends ,  non friends , spectators, all of it .   You “suck” being yelled at you from 12 directions .  LOL …I was too busy concentrating on stealing a base , making a play , hitting a foul shot ,  it was all background to me. Now when I care to think back ….it was funny …..I had no time for those emotions ,  I was focused on ball.   And yeah…..I yell trash back at the opponents too.   Though , I never said anything to an official ,  I took my lumps and moved on.

Surely he’s been hearing this stuff since he was 10 years old ,  I remember it , but never thought more that a second or two about any of it .  The only voices I paid attention to was my father yelling …LOL ..and my coaches .

He is a very fragile person , who picked this as career.  Being in front of rude , noisy, drunk , irritated, hating crowd.  Maybe he should leave the sport or get help.

He just fans the flames with all his antics and whining , lies , and immature comments and blames it on human nature . 

[Vermont Green]

This is only a "big deal" because of image, I think.

The NBA doesn't want its stars associated with vulgarity.  That might offend the part of the audience that skews old and more wealthy. 

But, is what the fans did a "big deal"?  Not really.  Stuff like this has happened for decades, and will continue to happen when fans are allowed to be on top of the players.  That's particularly true, of course, when liquid courage is served at the games.  There's a fine line between a hostile crowd and an unruly one.  Hopefully security pays attention and knows the difference.

Are Kyrie's actions a "big deal"?  Not really.  The crowd tried to get in his head; he let it fuel him.  It's similar to Reggie Miller, except Miller used different hand gestures that weren't deemed "offensive".  To me, I respect the focus of Kyrie, to be able to perform like that under pressure.  He's a nutjob and a flake, but he's also got a game that few can replicate.

So, much adieu about nothing.  Add a few more security guards, fine Kyrie $50k (times however many separate incidents the league determined) and tune in Wednesday for a rematch.

I think it would be appropriate for the Celtics or the TD Garden to add security, to pass out brochures reminding fans of the conduct rules, and maybe make an announcement or two along to way as an additional reminder.  They can spin this to say that because of one certain player's actions on the court, they want to get ahead of this and make sure that it does not escalate.  Blame Kyrie, not the fans.  Fans can still get on Kyrie or any other player, they just can't be obscene or vulgar.  A fan should not scream anything that they wouldn't want their 10 year old daughter to hear.

The league needs to come out with something as well and soon (today seems like the time to do it).  They can't let this just be OK for a player to do what Kyrie did in that game, or you will see more of it.

Say a "Kyrie suckz" chant were to start.  That is not a good look for Boston fans but is this vulgar or obscene?  Maybe but I don't think a fan gets removed for saying this even if it is a bit vulgar.  If this chant did start, Kyrie would likely "salute" the crowd in some way.  Then what?  Would that be a technical foul on the player?  Where does this go?  This is why the league cannot let players do what Kyrie did.  And if the chant got much uglier, I think the refs should be able to call a technical foul on the crowd.  The refs should also be able to designate fans for removal or if not the refs, some security official or something.

[Roy H.]

Fans can still get on Kyrie or any other player, they just can't be obscene or vulgar.  A fan should not scream anything that they wouldn't want their 10 year old daughter to hear.

I wish this was the standard.  From my experience, both at Fenway and the Garden, they let a lot of stuff go.  One of my least favorite sporting experiences is the "profane heckler", and unfortunately I've by in the presence of more than a few.

[SHAQATTACK]

Roman arena times . 
 
You just got your arm cut off in gladiator match or a lion has you pinned to ground chewing your butt . ……people are loving it.

People hollering …hey dude …you suck !   Cheering for the lion ! 

Hey Kyrie ,  your getting millions for verbal abuse ,  the rest of us get nothing for at work every day

Man up.

[Vermont Green]

Fans can still get on Kyrie or any other player, they just can't be obscene or vulgar.  A fan should not scream anything that they wouldn't want their 10 year old daughter to hear.

I wish this was the standard.  From my experience, both at Fenway and the Garden, they let a lot of stuff go.  One of my least favorite sporting experiences is the "profane heckler", and unfortunately I've by in the presence of more than a few.

I was at a high school hockey game recently and there was one "fan" (maybe a parent, I don't know) who was just ridiculous.  I was there because my hockey group had the ice after the game and the game was in overtime so we had to wait.  Most of what this guy was screaming was directed at the refs but it was really bad and in a rink full of kids of all ages.  I was tempted but chose not to tell him what I felt about his language.  It wasn't that I thought he would try to fight me (I had a hockey stick in my hands after all) but it just didn't seem like it was going to help.

For the Celtics or professional sports in general, the "ugly fan" is an issue for other fans.  No one want to go to a game and listen to that.  This is why it is in the league's and the teams' best interest to figure out a way to control this.

Again, is "Kyrie suckz" vulgar or obscene?  I don't know but I would not want to listen to that all game after I had paid good money for a ticket.  It is kind of like second hand smoke.  Yes, you have a right to smoke but you have to respect the right of others to not breath your second hand smoke.  Same with fans, sure, you have a right to scream things (within reason) but you also have to respect the rights of other paying customers in the stands.