Over the past couple of years, the relationship between NBA players and fans has been tested. During the playoffs, a Dallas Mavericks fan put his hands on Chris Paul's mother and wife.
Talk about crossing a line. The fan spat on the line and kept going. The NBA needs to do more to prevent these incidents after a young man was escorted from the American Airlines Center and banned for life. People will start keeping their hands to themselves if more people are banned. We know the league won't do that.
NBA owners need to make sure that these incidents don't happen again. The families of players shouldn't fear for their safety when entering an arena. Touching strangers, whether they are related to players or not, is unacceptable, even if it's just a joke. It's funny how certain people will do something to get a response from someone and then act surprised when they get the response and suffer the consequences of their actions.
Something needs to change. Over the past 15 years, the NBA has changed its on-court product to avoid too much physical contact. The 1980s through 2000s were more physical than the current one. There is no secret about what caused this shift. A black player ran into the crowd to attack a white fan who he thought threw a beverage at him. The league couldn't have another Malice at the Palace. And rightfully so.
The players want to fight fans in the crowd. The NBA needs to protect its players and their families at games. A designated area for the families of visiting team players could prevent something like this. It is difficult to control a large crowd. We are aware of that. Let's try to get these family members out of harm's way.
Fans are more hostile after the Pandemic and are being locked inside for months. It feels like fans are more unruly now than before. We will have another Malice on our hands if a fan puts their hands on the wrong player. The player will become the bad guy regardless of what the fan does.
Since other fans don't feel the need to call out this type of behavior, they all get some blame. Many other people were around when Paul's mom and wife were attacked. Not surprising coming from fans of that organization.
NBA, get it together. Adam Silver can stop this.
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