During the Utah Jazz's 110-104 win over the San Antonio Spurs Monday night, reigning Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson took exception with comments a fan directed his way. Though the situation didn't escalate, Clarkson did say that the fan's comments crossed the line as he took a step toward the stands to almost confront the situation.
"He just kept saying stuff, kept saying stuff, throughout the whole game," Clarkson said. "I usually have playful dialogue with people in the stands, people who are courtside. Another guy was there doing the same thing, but [with him] I knew it wasn't harmful. A timeout happened, and the [first] guy keep antagonizing me. He almost challenges me, like 'What you gonna do?' after saying a bunch of stuff."
Clarkson said the inappropriate fan kept making comments and it eventually reached a level where he had enough.
"It did cross the line, I was walking away initially and then he said something again," Clarkson said. "I turned back around and then he said it again. I'm just like, "What's going on?" Literally, there was a guy sitting next to him the whole game saying stuff, doing stuff, but I knew it was playful -- me and him kept winking at each other. But this guy was just a little too malicious with whatever he was saying. At one point I kinda just blacked out and was taking a step towards him. I don't want no problems with nobody. I'm in the league, I make a lot of money. He ain't gonna lose no money, I'm gonna end up losing a lot of money, be sitting out games. I could lose a [million]. I could put that in my daughter's pocket."
Clarkson reiterated that he knew he had far more to lose than the fan, who ended up getting kicked out of the game. This fan's behavior is unfortunately not a rare occurrence in the league. Last month Lakers superstar LeBron James got two Pacers fans sitting courtside kicked out of the game, who he said crossed the line with their comments. More recently, Nuggets guard Austin Rivers had two Oklahoma City fans escorted out of the arena after Rivers said the fans were making comments about his family all night.
It's an issue that Clarkson says shouldn't be happening while players are just trying to do their jobs and entertain the crowd.
"We're playing basketball, having a good time -- fans gotta learn we're human, we're people too. Stuff like that just can't fly," Clarkson said. "Especially on an NBA floor, where guys are doing their job. It's like somebody coming to somebody at McDonald's, and they just keep nagging somebody that's working the fries. There's no room for that. We come here to entertain, play basketball, compete, put on a show. We're not trying to deal with fans being too drunk or being whatever at the games, trying to start anything."
