The NBA is taking a very firm stance against fans who hurl racial slurs at players during basketball games. According to new reports, the Boston Celtics have issued a two-year ban against a fan who called Golden State Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins the N-word this year.
Yahoo Sports reporter Chris Haynes announced the ban during Thursday's episode of The Spin. Haynes said the fan used the N-word during the Warriors-Celtics match on Jan. 26. Cousins informed Boston's team security and TD Garden security, who "took care of the fan."
The sports commentator revealed that the ban may have been issued as early as the night in question, but Cousins and his team were not notified about it until "recently."
Cousins recently opened up during an appearance on the Yahoo Sports podcast Posted Up about his experience with fans using racial slurs. "I've been called n****r," he told Haynes.
He accused the NBA of encouraging players to "ignore" racial slurs from fans, and Cousins acknowledged struggling with that. "How many times am I supposed to ignore that? Me coming from where I come from [Mobile, Alabama]; they lucky all they got was a response," he said.
The conversation surrounding sports fans using offensive language was heightened after an incident this month with Russell Westbrook.
The Oklahoma City Thunder star was fined $25,000 after telling Utah Jazz fan Shane Kiesel, "I’ll f**k you up." Kiesel, who was accused of saying, "Get down on your knees like you’re used to," was issued a lifetime ban by the Jazz.
The Boston Celtics and the NBA have yet to publicly address the ban.
