Portland Trail Blazers star Jusuf Nurkić was fined $40,000 for throwing a fan’s phone into the stands Sunday.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes, the young Pacers fan allegedly yelled out “your mom is trash” and called his grandmother a “bitch.” Nurkić’s grandmother died of COVID-19 in 2020.
In a video of the incident, Nurkić—who is current dealing with an injury—can be seen getting into the face of the young fan and swiping his phone before launching it behind him.
Incidents like this aren’t entirely uncommon in the NBA. Back in October, a fan was ejected from the Staples Center after slapping Rajon Rondo’s hand. Also at Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse back in November, LeBron James pointed out two fans and had them tossed for heckling. While it isn’t entirely clear what the fans said or did to prompt LBJ to complain, he did reportedly say that “when obscene gestures and language come into it, can’t be tolerated.”
“There’s a difference from cheering for your team and not wanting the other team to win and things I would never say to a fan and they shouldn’t say to me,” Bron later said.
