Sixers Release Statement Apologizing to Russell Westbrook, Wizards

The Sixers have released a statement regarding the popcorn incident on Wednesday night apologizing to Russell Westbrook and the Wizards.

A positive night in South Philly was overshadowed by the disrespectful actions of a Philadelphia 76ers fan on Wednesday night.

As the Sixers hosted the Washington Wizards for Game 2 of the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs, Wizards star Russell Westbrook went down with a sudden lower-body injury.

After spending a few moments on the ground and getting attention from medical trainers, Westbrook was helped up off the floor and started walking off the court gingerly. 

Within seconds of Westbrook standing up, the crowd at the Wells Fargo Center clapped for the star respectfully. 

Unfortunately, a somewhat positive moment turned bad as a Sixers fan decided to dump popcorn on Westbrook's head as he exited the arena through a tunnel near the Sixers' bench.

As expected, Westbrook was enraged as he had to be held back from engaging in further confrontation with the fan. After the game, Westbrook reacted to the incident. 

"I was leaving off, and I’ve seen popcorn on top of my head. To be completely honest, man, this [expletive] is getting out of hand, especially for me. The amount of disrespect and the amount of fans just doing whatever they [expletive] they want to do. I’m all for the fans enjoying the game and having fun. It’s a part of sports; I get it. But there’s certain people who cross the line. In any other setting, I know for a fact that a guy wouldn’t come up to me on the street and pour popcorn on my head because you know what would happen."

On Thursday morning, the Sixers released a statement regarding the incident:

#Sixers released a statement apologizing to Russell Westbrook and the #Wizards for last night’s incident pic.twitter.com/qz3BnsfN2F

— Justin Grasso (@JGrasso_) May 27, 2021

"After an investigation into the incident that occurred at last night’s game, we have determined that the person involved will have his season ticket membership revoked, effectively immediately. In addition, he will be banned from all events at Wells Fargo Center indefinitely. We apologize to Russell Westbrook and the Washington Wizards for being subjected to this type of unacceptable and disrespectful behavior. There is no place for it in our sport or arena."

While it doesn't erase the negative scene of events on Wednesday, the Wells Fargo Center staff and the 76ers did all they could to resolve the situation as best as possible by banning the fan from all Wells Fargo Center events and apologizing to Westbrook and the Wizards for what happened.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_ & Instagram: @JGrassoNBA.