‘I'll f*** you up, you and your wife’: NBA star in tirade at fan after ‘racial abuse’ (VIDEO)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook threatened to “f*** up” a Utah Jazz fan “and his wife,” after the player said he was subjected to racist abuse during Monday night’s NBA game.
Westbrook was filmed launching a tirade at Jazz fan Shane Keisel, 45, during the second quarter of the game in Salt Lake City.
The Thunder star, 30, accused Keisel of using a racial slur, as the fan apparently told him to “get down on your knees like you used to.”
"I'm going to tell you one thing, I'll f*** him up if he says that s*** again. I promise you,” Westbrook was heard saying in footage of the incident.
"I promise you. You think I'm playing. I swear to God, I swear to God, I'll f*** you up. You and your wife, I'll f*** you up.”
WARNING VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE
Things get heated between Russell Westbrook and Utah Jazz fans again. “I’ll f*ck you up. You and your wife,” he says. Not sure what these fans said to him, but he also had issues with Jazz fans during the postseason. pic.twitter.com/LquwRmLVNy
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) March 12, 2019
After the game, NBA All-Star Westbrook again accused Keisel of making “disrespectful” and "racial" comments.
“A young man and his wife in the stands told me to ‘get down on my knees like you used to’. And to me that’s just completely disrespectful, I think it’s racial."
Russell Westbrook explains the verbal altercation he had with Jazz fans during tonight's game, saying fans told him “to get down on my knees like you used to.” (via @espn_macmahon) pic.twitter.com/aObvg6ZuPT
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 12, 2019
“…There are some people who come to the game to say disrespectful things about me and my family.
“I’ve been in the game many years, I’ve never done anything to hurt or harm anybody, I’ve never been in any trouble, never fought a fan… I take whatever the criticism, but disrespect will not be taken from me,” he added.
Utah fan Keisel denied the claims, saying that what has been a good-natured exchange had turned nasty when Westbrook snapped.
"He just went nuts. She never got up. She never stood up. She never said a word to him.
“I mean, it's all fine, we're having fun and games with the guy and we're talking, but at the end of the day, no man should threaten a woman, period.
"I'm not afraid of the guy. Come on up. But when you threaten a woman that's 5-feet tall and 110 pounds, you're a big man. So this guy needs to be exposed."
Shane Keisel, the Jazz fan who was involved in a verbal altercation with Russell Westbrook during the Jazz loss to the Thunder, explains his side of what happened. @KSL5TV@kslsports#nbapic.twitter.com/ScCSRttTCg
— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) March 12, 2019
The Utah Jazz later released a statement saying they would investigate the incident, and that “if is determined that any fans violated the NBA Code of Conduct, appropriate action will be taken."
Oklahoma won the game 98-89, with Westbrook scoring 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
