According to Marcus Smart, a fan at Pepsi Center crossed a serious line Friday night.
The Celtics guard claims a fan made inappropriate, and potentially racist, remarks to him during Boston’s 96-92 loss to the Nuggets. Smart alleges the fan made the remarks after he slid into courtside seats while chasing a loose ball.
“My foot got stuck in a chair and a fan told me, ‘That’s right stay on the ground, get on your knees,'” Smart said after the game.
Smart was particularly upset with arena security for their response, or lack thereof, to the incident.
“I told (security) who it was,” Smart said. “They just looked at him and didn’t even say anything to him, didn’t even get him out of the game. Probably if I was a superstar, they probably would have done something for it, but it is what it is. … We’re going to end up protecting ourselves eventually and it’s not going to be pretty for those fans and we don’t want that.
“We don’t want that as players, but at some point you’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to protect yourself as a man.”
.@smart_MS3 explains his side of the interaction he had with a fan during the Celtics/Nuggets game. He rightfully asks for more protection of players during games pic.twitter.com/aJkW14tdHc
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) November 23, 2019
Security personnel looked into the matter but failed to determine what happened, according to The Denver Post.
“If we (were) in the streets, it would be handled differently,” Smart said.
The alleged altercation is similar to an incident that transpired last season at a Utah Jazz game, where a fan allegedly told then-Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook to, “Get down on (your) knees like you used to.” The Jazz permanently banned the fan from attending games at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
In other Celtics news, guard Kemba Walker was released from a Denver hospital Friday night and cleared to travel home with the team. Walker was stretchered off during the second quarter and later diagnosed with concussion-like symptoms.
