Connon: UCLA's Mac Etienne Assault Incident Spotlights Continued Issue of Fan Behavior

Before we get started, let's make this 100% clear.

Spitting on people is unacceptable. Redshirt freshman forward/center Mac Etienne was in the wrong when he spit in the direction of Arizona fans following UCLA men's basketball's loss in Tucson on Thursday – and also when he possibly did it at halftime too. It's a bad look, especially during a pandemic, and there should and will be consequences for what took place.

But that was something that happened in a vacuum and isn’t exactly a widespread issue in collegiate sports.

What led to the spitting, on the other hand, is all too familiar. Like many altercations before it, this only further highlights the ugly fan-versus-player dynamic in the modern sports world.

Throughout the game, Arizona fans started up chants such as "F**k you, Johnny" and "F**k you, Tyger," and those were just the ones that could be made out on the ESPN broadcast.

Etienne did not walk into the McKale Center telling himself he was going to spit on someone by the time the night was over – he was provoked. Again, that does not justify his actions, but it would be shortsighted to simply look at the effect without considering the cause.

Fans think they can say whatever and do whatever they want to the teenagers and young adults who are there to entertain them. And at the college level, they aren’t even getting paid to do so.

These student-athletes are there to compete – to better themselves and pour everything they can into helping their team come out on top. For as notorious and prevalent as this kind of fan behavior is, these athletes did not sign up for getting constantly berated and yelled at for hours on end.

We don’t know what the Arizona fans were saying to Etienne on Thursday. Unless it gets disclosed as part of the University of Arizona Police Department’s investigation, we probably never will.

It isn’t exactly a massive leap to assume whatever was being said cut Etienne pretty deep, though, based solely on his reaction.

But make no mistake – this is not a problem exclusive to Arizona and its fans.

When Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart was playing at Oklahoma State in 2014, he shoved a Texas Tech fan sitting courtside and got suspended three games for the incident. Smart claimed the man called him the N-word.

A Philadelphia 76ers fan threw popcorn at Russell Westbrook in last year’s NBA Playoffs, and Westbrook had to be held back by security when trying to confront the man. A Celtics fan threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving just a few days later.

Isaiah Thomas was shooting free throws against the 76ers when he was playing for the Washington Wizards in 2019, and a fan continuously yelled “F**k you, b**ch” to Thomas when he was at the line. Thomas went into the stands to calmy confront him during a timeout – getting ejected for doing so – and when Thomas told the patron to stop being disrespectful and start being a fan, the man apologized and said he only wanted to get a free Frosty from Wendy’s by causing Thomas to miss both free throws.

It was a free Frosty in DC, and it’s free fries from Fat Sal’s in Westwood.

In 2020, Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley was walking by The Den on his way back to the visiting locker room at Pauley Pavilion for halftime. Bruin fans lofted insults at Hurley until he snapped and tried tossing a retractable belt stanchion out of the way to face off with the students. As funny and reprehensible as some UCLA fans found the whole ordeal, they were still the ones who caused it.

Trash talk is considered part of the game in college basketball, but it can clearly go too far more often than most fans would like to admit. Trash talk should stay between fans and fans, and players and players.

Fans, whether it’s on social media or in person, have an unfair amount of leverage when they talk trash to athletes, and it creates a power dynamic that exists only to belittle.

Cronin is well within his rights to suspend Etienne for a game or two when he returns from his injury next season, but that should not be the only outcome of the ordeal.

Student-athletes are subjected to so many insults and so much taunting while performing, and the system is set up in a way where they can’t do anything about it except “let their play do the talking.” Etienne and every other player on UCLA should be educated and instructed on how to deal with situations like this, and it’s ultimately the school and team’s responsibility to make sure these young men are prepared to face similar challenges moving forward.

In Etienne’s case, that probably requires anger management courses, not as a form of punishment, but rather as a way to help him move past the incident and better himself in the future.

Aftet all, that’s what college is all about – growing as a person in the classroom, in social environments and everywhere else. Sometimes that involves realizing that the real world can be harsh and cruel, and very rarely are there environments more cruel to young student-athletes than road games surrounded by emotional rival fans with nothing to lose.

It would be great if fans across the country suddenly had a change of heart and focused more on cheering for their team rather than insulting their opponent, but that isn’t going to happen. Etienne can learn from this and grow as a result, becoming better prepared to face an unjust system as he gets older.

But to fans of every team, in every sport – try to reel it in a bit. These are human beings you’re yelling at.

Their thoughts, feelings and mental health are just as important as anyone else’s, and tearing those down just for a quick laugh is never going to end well.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA men's basketball stories: UCLA Men's Basketball on Sports Illustrated