In the ending moments of a hard fought Game 4 at the TD Garden Arena in Boston, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets embraced Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics as they battled for 48 grueling minutes going back and forth. The Brooklyn Nets won the game 141-126. Irving, Durant and Tatum put their best game on show as they scored 39, 42, and 40 points respectively. This feat alone should have turned that night historical, as it is rare in history to see 3 players go for 39-plus points in the same game. But one split second ultimately ruined the night for the superstars.

As superstar Kyrie Irving walked towards the locker room, a water bottle flew down from a fan in the crowd and struck Kyrie in the head. Instant turmoil erupted on the arena floor. Security comes rushing over to the arena floor to see what happened.  A Boston Celtic fan, Cole Buckley, of Braintree, Massachusetts was detained by security after reviewing footage of the incident. The 21-year-old fan was arrested on the scene and taken into custody by TD Garden police.

According to Sports Illustrated, “A guest was arrested by Boston Police at the end of tonight’s Boston Celtics game for throwing an object. We will support and provide assistance to Boston Police as this incident is under review. We have zero tolerance for violations of our guest code of conduct, and the guest is subject to a lifetime ban from TD Garden.”

This instance is one of many in recent weeks as Russell Westbrook of the Washington Wizards had popcorn thrown at him by a fan at the end of the game in Philadelphia. That also caused a lot of turmoil as tension was already high from a hard-fought game. Among the other incidents are racial and vulgar remarks in Utah targeted at Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and his family. And let’s not forget the New York Knicks fan that spit on Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young after a playoff game as well.

WHAT ARE WE DOING FANS? That is not the way to carry yourself! I understand if you catch an opponent’s homerun you throw it back at a ball game, but throwing water bottles at players, spitting on them, racially abusing them, C’mon! THAT SHOULD NOT BE INVOLVED WITH SPORTS.

People may forget that live sports are such a beautiful thing to watch, and we are even  luckier if we have an opportunity to see them in person. You would think after being cooped up during the COVID pandemic, which rendered it impossible to watch sports in person,  that fans wouldn’t jeopardize their ability to see them play  in person again.  Fans should really rethink their toxic antics.

As for the Players involved in the incident, they didn’t take it too lightly either. According to Sporting News, Kevin Durant took to the podium after the game and stated, “We are not animals; we are not in the circus. You coming to the game is not all about you as a fan. So, have some respect for the game. Have some respect for human beings, and have some respect for yourself. Your mother wouldn’t be proud of you throwing water bottles at basketball players or spitting on players or tossing popcorn. So, grow the f— up, and enjoy the game. It’s bigger than you.”

Here at Miletti Law, we are all about the players, looking out for their health and their best interests and representing them professionally, with only the highest quality representation. And fans throwing stuff at players is definitely not in the athletes’ best interests.

The 21-year-old Boston fan is charged with “workplace violence” as Kyrie Irving was just finishing up his job as a professional basketball player. This charge can go as far as assault and battery with a dangerous weapon even though the water bottle did not strike Irving in the head. There is one particular case, captioned as In re Civil Commitment of Meyer, 2019 Minn. App. Unpub. Lexis 466, “in her report to the court, Dr. Jameson stated her opinion that civil commitment was necessary because of Meyer’s mental illness. She also stated that Meyer had made a recent attempt or threat to physically harm himself or others based on his recent efforts to present E.H. with an award and his history of inappropriate contact with minors. Dr. Jameson also discussed Meyer’s attempt to purchase a gun and his previous threats against law enforcement. When Dr. Jameson asked Meyer why he had applied for a permit to purchase a gun, Meyer stated that he is a “commenter on social media” and remarks on “controversial topics” so it is “prudent for me to own a gun in case I was tracked and assaulted by a fanatic. In a civil commitment case, the district court did not err in admitting hearsay evidence pursuant to Minn. Spec. R. Proc. Commitment Act 15 and Minn. Stat. § 253B.08, subd. 7; findings that the patient had made threats toward government figures, believed he could raise a militia, and had attempted to obtain a firearm were supported by the evidence.”

In this case, where athletes weren’t involved the Doctor was tracked and assaulted by a fanatic of his, who was also his patient. This patient faced charges, just as Cole Buckley of Boston should receive assault charges against him for throwing a bottle at a professional player.

It remains to be seen what further charges Buckley will face. And it remains to be seen what the fans will do next. But here at Miletti Law, we are all for the players, to protect them and serve their best interests. Miletti Law believes instances similar to Cole Buckley and the others of the past are detrimental to the beauty and elegance of the game. There is no need for that even to be involved inside the arena of sports.

After a 1 year hiatus due to the pandemic, it feels good to have live sporting events again.  While the crowds are smaller, the intensity is there, greater than ever. Remember, professional athletes are people too and they bleed just like us.  The fact that we put them in such harmful situations and in some cases, actually physically harm them, is really borderline criminal. Fans need to change their behavior and learn to act civilized and respectful.  Hopefully,  fans seeing the charges against Cole Buckley will make them think twice before committing something similar to his actions. While we always appreciate aggressiveness and passion, there is no room for harm.

As always Stay Unusually Motivated and keep crafting your knack!