Donovan Mitchell, NBA Players Defend Russell Westbrook After Heckler Incident
Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell came to Russell Westbrook's defense on Tuesday after the Thunder star was caught telling a Utah heckler, "I'll f--- you up."
Westbrook got into a verbal altercation with the fan Monday and used profanity in the incident with the heckler and he responded to fans by saying, "I'll f--- you up. You and your wife." Westbrook said the incident started when, "a young man and his wife in the stands told [him] 'to get down on my knees like you used to." Westbrook told reporters, "To me, that’s just completely disrespectful, to me, I think it’s racial, and I think it’s inappropriate and insensitive."
Warning, this video contains explicit language.
On Monday, Mitchell released a statement saying he was "personally hurt" by the incident. He wrote, "Racism and hate speech hurts us all, and this is not the first time something like this has happened at our arena."
Other NBA stars, including Oklahoma City teammate Patrick Patterson and Heat superstar Dwayne Wade, offered support.
The Thunder next face the Nets on Wednesday.
