Two fans flirting with the Los Angeles Lakers-Philadelphia 76ers game were kicked off the field for arguing with Carmelo Anthony on Thursday night, and Anthony said he was fine with trash talk until it crosses boundaries.
Anthony faced off against a fan at the Wells Fargo Center with about seven minutes remaining in the fourth half. Play was paused for a few minutes while the fan identified the fan. Two fans were eventually escorted out of the arena after Anthony said they used “unacceptable” language towards him.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports report that one of the fans kept calling Anthony “the boy” and shouting things like “keep shooting the boy.” Anthony confirmed that while speaking to reporters after the game. He said he has no problem with raving fans until it crosses “certain boundaries.”
“Some things have been said,” Anthony told the media, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Unacceptable. I’m great with raving fans, fans talking rubbish, cheering for their team, booing another team, I’m all for it. But when you cross certain boundaries, as a man, you just have to, that’s what you’ll see. That’s what you’ll get, as you’ve seen there.
“There are just some things you don’t tell anyone,” added Anthony. “If I was outside and I bumped into you and you said those things to me, it would be a completely different story.”
TNT announcers said fans or fans rode Carmelo for some possessions before that was stopped. One video show some interaction prior to the confrontation, but it is unclear exactly what was said.
It became a trend in the NBA when fans were kicked off the field after players called them out for disgusting reasons. Anthony could have followed the lead of LeBron James closely. LeBron has some fans got kicked out of a game earlier this season after they rode him.
