Photo: Adam Glanzman/Getty
A Celtics fan has reportedly been temporarily banned from attending games at Boston’s TD Garden after using a racial slur against Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins earlier this year.
According to areportfrom Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, during the Celtics-Warriors game on Jan. 26, a fan “muttered the n-word” at Cousins, 28.
Citing league sources, Haynes toldThe Spinthat “DeMarcus informed one of the team security guys, and they got a hold of the security team at TD Garden.”
“I was told, ultimately, that the fan was banned for the rest of this season and next year,” he added.
The Celtics and Golden State Warriors did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
In an interview with Haynes on Yahoo’sPosted Uppodcast that was published earlier this month, Cousins admitted that the racial slur had been used against him “on a few occasions,” according toComplex.
“I reported it to the league, and, you know, I may have said whatever I said back and I was still punished for it,” he added. According to NBC News, Cousins hasbeen fined on four occasionsfor using profanity against fans.
However, the NBA player declined to mention where the incidents occurred.
“I’m not really trying to put a label on an entire fan base,” he explained. “There are ignorant individuals in every city. I’ll just put it like that … [The league] tells you to ignore it, or whatever the case may be, but, how many times am I supposed to ignore that.”
RELATED VIDEO: College Uses Police Officer to Surprise Walk-On With Scholarship
The outlet reported that one incident stemmed from a fan calling Westbrook “boy” during the 2018 playoffs, while another stemmed from averbal altercationhe got into with a fan during a March 11 game.
In an official statement regarding Keisel’s lifetime ban, the Utah Jazz said they “will not tolerate fans who act inappropriately. There is no place in our game for personal attacks or disrespect.”
Utah Jazz owner Gail Miller went on to address fans on Mar 15, sharing that she was “extremely disappointedthat one of our quote ‘fans’ conducted himself in such a way as to offend not only a guest in our arena, but also me personally, my family, our organization, the community, our players and you, as the best fans in the NBA.”
“This should never happen. We are not a racist community,” Miller added. “We believe in treating people with courtesy and respect as human beings. From time to time, individual fans exhibit poor behavior and forget their manners and disrespect players on other teams. When that happens, I want you to jump up and shout ‘Stop.’ We have a code of conduct in this arena. It will be strictly enforced.”
source: people.com
