Sixers ban two fans, Wizards' Isaiah Thomas suspended after confrontation

Two Philadelphia 76ers fans were banned for one year after yelling obscenities and making obscene gestures at Washington Wizards guard Isaiah Thomas, the team announced Sunday.

The incident happened during the Sixers’ 125-108 victory Saturday in Philadelphia.

The league also suspended Thomas two games without pay for his actions. He was ejected after walking into the stands to confront the two fans.

"NBA rules state that any player who deliberately enters the spectator stands during a game will be automatically ejected and subject to a fine and/or suspension," the NBA said in a statement. "This bright-line rule is intended to prevent altercations or other hostile interactions between players and fans, for the benefit of both, and is therefore enforced even in circumstances such as these when the encounter between Thomas and fans did not escalate."

After the game, Thomas, wearing an Allen Iverson jersey, addressed reporters and relayed what happened. After Thomas missed the first of two free throws then made the second — a second miss would’ve awarded all fans in attendance a free Frosty from Wendy’s — a fan sitting close to the court wasn’t happy.

“I’m running back and a fan has both of his middle fingers up and said ‘(expletive) you (expletive)’ three times," Thomas told reporters. "Then timeout goes and I go into the stands to confront him. I go, ‘Don’t be disrespectful. I’m a man before anything and be fan.’ His response was, 'Sorry, I just wanted a Frosty.’

Thomas reported the exchange to Wizards security. “No way, shape or form that should be allowed,” Thomas said.

The season-ticket holder who gave the tickets to the fans had their tickets revoked by the team, according to the Sixers.

"We support our fans being passionate and intense, but behavior cannot violate the Fan Conduct policy," the Sixers said in statement. "We will remain diligent in enforcing this policy in coordination with our venue partner and the NBA."

This marks another incident in which fans have crossed the line at NBA arenas.

A Utah Jazz fan received a lifetime ban from Vivant Home Smart Arena after an exchange with then-Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook. The fan and his girlfriend filed a lawsuit against the Jazz and Westbrook, seeking $100 million in damages.

During the NBA Finals, a Golden State Warriors partial owner, Mark Stevens, was banned for one year and fined $500,000 for directing obscene language at Toronto’s Kyle Lowry who said Stevens yelled, ‘Go (expletive) yourself’ multiple times’ as Lowry tried to save the basketball on the sideline.

Just before the Finals began, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed fan behavior.

 “What I think we can do is refocus our efforts, as we have this year, on appropriate conduct for fans,” Silver said. “And making sure that there’s a clear code of conduct that’s communicated to fans, that it’s consistently enforced in every NBA arena and that we’re creating a safe environment, of course for the players and all the other fans as well.

“And as I said, we have redoubled our efforts. We have had lots of conversations directly with the Players Association, the players, because absolutely we want them to feel that they’re in a safe environment and we don’t want them to be distracted during the game or think that they have to take matters into their own hand."

The NBA, which places code of conduct rules on seats near the court, had an increase in banned fans in 2018-19 compared to 2017-18.