Thursday night’s Phoenix Suns game got off to a sour note before play even began when forward Kevin Durant got into it with a heckling fan.
When Durant took the floor for the pregame shootaround, a fan yelled, “Bitch,” in his direction. Durant immediately halted his jog, turned around, and slowly approached a woman and a man. Surprisingly, the woman held out her hand expecting a high-five after the insult. Durant had a serious discussion with the two as the woman continued holding her hand out as if it wasn’t a big deal.
Eventually, Durant seemed to get through to them and their expressions changed. After the back-and-forth, Durant waved them off and turned around to resume his pregame routine.
Not long after, Durant returned to the scene after multiple security guards got involved. The guards were debating on kicking the pair out, but Durant seemed to vouch for them to stay. As he did so, however, he had more words for the two.
“Don’t act like a little kid,” Durant said while pointing at them. “You’re a grown-up.”
The woman responded with, “I promise.”
By current NBA standards, that outcome is unexpected. When players feel a fan has crossed a line — as was the case with Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic — they have no problem getting them kicked out.
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