In early March, the NBA and Utah Jazz cracked down on a fan for yelling racial insults at Russell Westbrook after a video surfaced of the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard yelling back at the fan and his wife.
Just weeks later, a similar incident at TD Garden has come to light.
A Boston Celtics fan reportedly has been banned from the Garden for two years after muttering a racial slur at Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. The incident occurred on January 26, 2019, during the Warriors lone regular season visit to Boston.
The fan has been banned for the remainder of this season and next season, according to Haynes.
When Westbrook’s situation unfolded in early March, reporters asked Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving for his thoughts on the incident. He responded by saying that it happens often, but most of the time it doesn’t get documented.
The NBA is pushing to improve their policing of any derogatory comments, including a memo that was sent to all 30 teams telling them to have public service announcements on the subject during games.
As of late Thursday night, less than one hour after Haynes broke the story, there was no official announcement on the incident from the Celtics.
A two-year ban seems like a light penalty for an incident like this. Ideally, the Celtics will replicate the actions of the Jazz and ban this fan for life.
