A man is seeking $68 million dollars in damages after a verbal altercation with Russell Westbrook during a game between the Utah Jazz and Oklahoma City Thunder last March.
A video of the incident went viral on social media showing the former Thunder star telling Shane Keisel, a Jazz fan, “I’ll fuck you up.”
In an interview following the game, Westbrook said he reacted to the man telling him to “get on your knees like you’re used to,” a comment in which Westbrook felt had racial connotations.
Along with losing his job, Kesiel received a lifetime ban from Vivint Smart Home Arena once the incident had hit headlines across the country.
In a lawsuit acquired by The Salt Lake Tribune, Keisel and his girlfriend Jennifer Huff are seeking over $100 million ($68 million for Keisel and $32 million for Huff) in damages claiming defamation and infliction of emotional distress by the Utah Jazz and Russel Westbrook.
Keisel’s attorneys claim that “Mr. Keisel’s heckling was of the same kind and caliber as that of the other audience members in the section,” going on to say that, “the crowd was shocked by the ferocity of Mr. Westbrook’s outburst when he had only been told to take care of his knees, albeit in a mocking manner that implied he would need to use them extensively to ensure his team’s victory.”
The Jazz fan base is starting to build a nasty reputation, as this isn’t the first incident of fans crossing the line.
After returning to Utah following his trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, Derek Fisher recalls fans mocking his daughter’s rare form of eye cancer during the Lakers and Jazz series chanting “cancer” while at the free throw line.
Frank Zang, the senior vice president of communications for Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment doubts that Mr. Keisel’s claims will hold up in a court of law.
“The organization investigated the underlying incident and acted in an appropriate and responsible manner,”says Zang. “We intend to vigorously defend [against] the lawsuit.”
Westbrook was fined by the NBA $25,000 for, “for directing profanity and threatening language to a fan.”
