Banned Jazz Fan Sues Team and Russell Westbrook

The Jazz fan permanently banned from Vivint Smart Home Arena following a verbal altercation with Russell Westbrook last season is suing the point guard and the team, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

In the lawsuit filed Monday, which the Tribune obtained a copy of, Jazz fan Shane Keisel argued his "heckling was of the same kind and caliber as that of the other audience members in the section." Keisel's attorneys said an "irate" Westbrook went on a "tirade" directed at him and his girlfriend Jennifer Huff.

Keisel and Huff are requesting a public apology and financial damages. Attorneys are asking for $68 million in damages for Keisel and $32 million for Huff on claims of defamation and infliction of emotional distress, according to the lawsuit obtained by the Tribune.

In March, a video circulated of then-Thunder guard Westbrook yelling at Keisel and Huff and saying, "I'll f--- you up. You and your wife." After the game, Westbrook said Keisel said told him "to get down on my knees like you used to." 

"To me, that’s just completely disrespectful, to me, I think it’s racial, and I think it’s inappropriate and insensitive," Westbrook told reporters.

In the lawsuit, Keisel's attorneys argue that Westbrook misunderstood his comments and he told Westbrook to wrap his knees better to help him in the game, according to the Tribune.

Keisel told reporters after the game that he and Westbrook were "having fun" before the point guard started cursing toward the stands.

Keisel was later banned from the arena, and the NBA fined Westbrook $25,000 on Tuesday for "directing profanity and threatening language to a fan." The lawsuit claims he and his family have been harassed and he has lost work since the incident. 

"The organization investigated the underlying incident and acted in an appropriate and responsible manner," Frank Zang, senior vice president of communications for Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment, told the Tribune in a statement. "We intend to vigorously defend [against] the lawsuit."

Keisel and Huff's attorneys could not be reached for comment on Monday by the Tribune and attempts to reach Westbrook and his representatives were unsuccessful.