Fan altercations with players at sporting events are nothing new.
We’ve seen water bottles, batteries, popcorn, beer, you name it… there is always some kind of idiot throwing things at players.
And lately, it’s been off the rails.
In just the past couple weeks alone, five fans received lifetime bans for throwing things at player, one even spitting at on a player.
And then last night, a Boston Celtics fan threw a water bottle at Kyrie Irving, a former Celtics player himself. 21-year-old Cole Buckley was seen smiling as he was escorted out of the arena in handcuffs by security.
My guess is that he’s not smiling now though, as the Boston Police has announced that he’s been charged with felony assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon.
Now personally, it’s hard for me to define a water bottle as a “dangerous weapon,” but at the end of the day, the NBA has to protect its players from getting hurt from fan initiated incidents. If they don’t make an example out of somebody, it’s just going to keep happening.
Irving himself also discussed his displeasure on the situation:
This also comes less than a week after popcorn was thrown on Russell Westbrook as he was exiting a game due to injury, and a fan attempted to spit on Trae Young while he was on court.
