December 23, 2019
Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas will serve a one-game suspension after entering the crowd Saturday to confront a Sixers fan at the Wells Fargo Center.
Thomas was ejected from the Wizards' loss in Philadelphia after he approached a fan who shouted obscenities at him during a pair of free throws. During a post-game interview, Thomas explained that the fan screamed, "F*** you, b****" three times during the foul shots.
When confronted, the fan told Thomas, "I'm sorry, I wanted a Frosty," referring to the Sixers' "Frosty Freeze Out" promotion that awards fans free Wendy's items if opponents miss consecutive free throws in the second half of games.
On Sunday, we learned that the two fans involved in the incident were banned for a year from all events at the Wells Fargo Center. The season-ticket holder who sold them the seats has also had their season-ticket membership revoked.
The NBA later released a statement confirming that Thomas would be suspended for a game in accordance with strict rules about NBA players entering the stands.
The league’s statement. Note the highlighted part: pic.twitter.com/FUVZp8eHWP
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) December 23, 2019
Thomas, who was fairly diplomatic in explaining the situation after the game, wasn't as restrained in his response to the suspension.
Bullshit!
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) December 22, 2019
The above tweet was sent after Thomas deleted a previous one that clearly showed he was referring to his suspension.
That’s gonna be a fine. pic.twitter.com/WnL4Ipiy2j
— drew olanoff (@yoda) December 23, 2019
The NBA has been severe in cases of this nature ever since Ron Artest and other Indiana Pacers stormed the stands in a road game against the Detroit Pistons in Nov. 2004. That incident stemmed from a fan throwing beer, although Artest and the fan reportedly became friends years later.
On the flipside of this, the NBA also suspended Golden State Warriors investor Mark Stevens for a year and fined him $500,000 for shoving Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry during last season's NBA Finals.
It seems the suspension is more a matter of enforcing a policy out of principle than a specific indictment of Thomas' reaction on Saturday night. Although Philadelphia fans are well-known for being a brutal bunch, the line crossed on Saturday was a bit beyond good-natured ribbing. Maybe another player would have ignored it, but it's hard to fault Thomas for setting the fan straight.
