The Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play announcer Bill Macdonald said it all.
“That’s the ultimate in frustration when you engage the fans…”
Now Lakers point guard Steve Blake must put his money where his mouth is. On Tuesday, the NBA fined Blake $25,000 for directing inappropriate language toward a fan last week when the Lakers faced the Los Angles Clippers last Friday.
The expletive-laced rant from Blake targeted was directed at Lance Jackson, whose family are long-time season ticket holders with eight courtside seats at the Staples Center and apparently have a very close relationship with the franchise. According to Jackson, he was shouting to Blake about "making your open shots." Other fans say Jackson filled his message with personal expletives.
It's an unfortunate misunderstanding and a heat-of-the-moment type of thing," Blake said after practice Tuesday. "It's one of those things I'm not proud of, the way I handled it, and I look forward to growing as a person and moving forward from it."
"I'm feisty and can get into it on the court, but I've never taken it anywhere else," Blake said. "That's what I want to be known for, and they're great people and they didn't deserve to have that type of interaction with a player.
Blake chalks up his frustration and outburst toward Jackson to the struggles the Lakers are facing on the court to start the season. Starting for the injured Steve Nash, Blake finished with eight points on 2 of 6 from the field and had two assists against the Clippers in the Lakers 105-95 loss.
This goes back to the old debate that a fan should be able to say what they want having paid for their ticket and seat. You may not agree with it — and nearly every NBA fan does not — but that is one of those in-game circumstances that will never change. It still does not make it right and equal frustration from both Blake and Jackson rests at the bottom of the F-bomb exchange.
Just know that the NBA will never let this topic slide, regardless if the exchange is verbal or through a gesture. Last May, the NBA fined Ivan Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks $25,000 for using an obscene gesture toward fans during a Boston and Atlanta game.
