Wizards' Russell Westbrook Reacts to Popcorn Incident Involving a Sixers Fan

Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook is no stranger to having negative interactions with fans. Unfortunately, he was reminded of just how ridiculously far fans would go to get under an NBA player's skin on Wednesday night.

As the Sixers hosted the Wizards for Game 2, Westbrook went down with an injury during the third quarter. After getting helped up and assisted back to the locker room, the veteran guard felt popcorn getting dumped on his head as he entered the tunnel.

At that point, Westbrook was understandably heated. While the rest of the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center applauded the star respectfully for being able to get up and walk off the floor, one bad egg in the crowd ruined a positive moment, and Westbrook is not pleased with the situation at all.

"I was leaving off, and I’ve seen popcorn on top of my head," Westbrook explained after the game. "To be completely honest, man, this [expletive] is getting out of hand, especially for me. The amount of disrespect and the amount of fans just doing whatever they [expletive] they want to do."

Westbrook understands that fans aren't going to sit back quietly in their chair, only rooting for their favorite team and not against the opponent. In pro sports, fans heckling players to get under their skin is practically accepted as long as it's respectful and in good fun. 

"I’m all for the fans enjoying the game and having fun," Westbrook continued. "It’s a part of sports; I get it. But there’s certain people who cross the line. In any other setting, I know for a fact that a guy wouldn’t come up to me on the street and pour popcorn on my head because you know what would happen."

After the incident, the fan who allegedly dumped the popcorn on Westbrook's head was escorted out from the arena. While it's unclear what the next steps are, Westbrook and other NBA players are urging the NBA to look into the situation and find ways to avoid similar incidents in the future.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.