Wizards' Isaiah Thomas suspended 2 games, fans banned from 76ers' arena for stands confrontation
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Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas was suspended for two games for entering the stands Saturday night to confront fans who were heckling him, the NBA announced.
Additionally, the league said Sunday the two fans who were involved in the confrontation were banned by the Philadelphia 76ers for one year from the Wells Fargo Center – their home floor – and the ticket-holders’ seats have been revoked.
WASHINGTON WIZARDS' ISAIAH THOMAS CONFRONTS FAN IN STANDS WHO GIVES FINGER, CURSES AT HIM
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Thomas said one of the unnamed fans repeatedly cursed and gave the middle finger because their team’s loss wouldn’t get them a free milkshake.
Late in the fourth quarter of the game, Thomas walked to the stands and verbally approached a 76ers fan who had "both of his middle fingers up, and said, 'F--- you, b----' three times."
Speaking calmly to reporters after the game, Thomas said he missed a first free throw and made a second and that's when he spotted the man.
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“So then the timeout goes, and I go in the stands to confront him," he said.
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“I say, ‘Don’t be disrespectful. I’m a man before anything and be a fan,’" the guard continued. "And his response was, ‘I’m sorry. I just wanted a Frosty' because if you miss two free throws, I guess the fans get a Frosty.”
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The 76ers have been promoting "Wendy’s Frosty Freeze-Out," which offers fans free desserts if “an opposing player misses two consecutive free-throw attempts in the second half of a 76ers home game.”
But Thomas said the spectator "crossed the line" and told security about him "so they can get kicked out the game cause that's no way, shape or form that should be allowed at all.”
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It's against NBA rules to purposely enter arena stands. But Thomas said he thinks the league won't suspend him for such actions and will understand where he was coming from.
“The league knows: I did nothing wrong,” Thomas said. “There just should be a respect factor [with fans]. Like, I’m not going to go to anybody else’s job and call you out of your name, no matter how mad I make you. I don’t even know how I can make you that mad when we were down 15. We lost the game. That’s all I’m saying. I’m a man before anything, and that just wasn’t OK to do — and I just had to say something.”
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The Wizards lost to the Sixers 125-108.